Ex-Congress leaders now dominate Punjab BJP

Tribune News Service

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, January 18

With former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal joining the BJP, the saffron party in Punjab seems to be heading towards a complete “Congressisation” in the state. Manpreet is the seventh member from the Council of Ministers of the last Congress government to join the BJP in the past six months.

Earlier, former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and ministers, including Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Raj Kumar Verka, Sunder Sham Arora, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Rana Gurmeet Sodhi and former Leader of Opposition Sunil Jakhar had joined the BJP.

The situation is such that even in the last Assembly elections, one-third of the total candidates of the party were turncoats, mainly from the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal.

The recent list of state office-bearers announced by the BJP was also dominated by former Congress leaders. Since most leaders who joined the BJP belonged to different factions of the Congress, that factionalism has become a challenge for the saffron party as well. According to BJP leaders, they have brought the same factionalism to the BJP. Carrying along their old rivalries, many of them are not ready to see eye-to-eye with each other. “The BJP is not known for this kind of culture. Here the party and its ideology are supreme,” said a senior leader who wished not to be identified.

However, the joining of the party by a large number of Congress leaders has left “original” BJP leaders disheartened. A leader from the Malwa region said they had been associated with the ideology of the Sangh and the BJP for generations, but now it was painful to report to a “former SAD leader, who always abused us”.

Sources said similar resentment was witnessed at a recent meeting in Patiala where BJP workers openly aired their disillusionment with the party’s changed culture. “The workers questioned the way the party was being run from Moti Bagh Palace,” a leader from Patiala said.

Aware of these issues, the BJP recently held a two-day induction programme for the “new entrants” in Bathinda where these leaders were preached to forget old rivalries and focus on the BJP ideology.

Manpreet 7th from Capt’s team in party

• Manpreet Badal is the seventh member from the Council of Ministers of the previous Congress government to join the BJP in the past six months
• Earlier, former CM Capt Amarinder Singh, ministers Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Raj Kumar Verka, Sunder Sham Arora, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, and former LoP Sunil Jakhar had joined the BJP

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