Composition of BJP’s state cabinets leads to allegations of ‘Congress-isation’, party defends itself saying the ex-Congress ministers are now committed to its ideology and goals.
New Delhi: ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ has been a key political goal and election slogan for the BJP, particularly after it rode to power at the Centre in 2014. The party has since pushed the line in assembly election after election, and succeeded in dethroning the Grand Old Party in several states.
But the BJP, it seems, has not really managed to rid some of these states of their prominent Congress faces, or former Congress faces, to be precise. ThePrint found that more than half the cabinet in newly-formed BJP governments in Assam, Goa, Manipur, and Uttarakhand were either ex-Congress leaders or allied with it until they switched sides before or after elections. While the Assam government was formed in 2016, the other three states got their new governments only six months back.
Besides the four states, even in Uttar Pradesh, former state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi joined the BJP before the polls, and became a cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.
Assam
The northeastern state of Assam saw 10 Congress MLAs switch to the BJP less than a year before the assembly polls. They were led by Congress chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s disenchanted right-hand man Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was then credited as the architect of the BJP’s historic election victory in 2016.
Sarma then became the No.2 man in Sarbananda Sonowal’s cabinet, while three more of his former Congress colleagues are now ministers.
Goa
Goa saw high political drama in 2017 when the BJP managed to cobble together an alliance faster than the Congress, which was the single largest party. Manohar Parrikar left the Union defence ministry to return to the state as chief minister, but eight of his 11 ministers have been closely linked with the Congress in the past.
Manipur
Manipur also witnessed drama after the 2017 assembly elections threw up a hung assembly. In the aftermath, the BJP moved quickly to form the government with the support of smaller parties, and managed to end the reign of Congress’s three-term CM Okram Ibobi Singh.
Leading the charge for the BJP was an ex-Congressman – N. Biren Singh, now the chief minister. In total, six of the 12 ministers in Manipur were affiliated with the Congress in the past.
Uttarakhand
A few months before the Uttarakhand assembly elections, Congress chief minister Harish Rawat seemingly lost control over his flock of MLAs. While his government survived after judicial intervention, 13 MLAs switched sides to the BJP, and were instrumental in its rise to power in the 2017 polls.
Of the nine ministers of the new government, six are ex-Congress.
Congress-isation of the BJP?
The presence of all these Congress-men and -women has led to questions being raised about the BJP’s promises about a Congress-mukt Bharat.
Pramod Salgaonkar, vice-president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, alleged that the BJP’s rhetoric was nothing but a cover for grabbing power at all costs.
“More than 50 per cent of the BJP cabinet is ex-Congress persons, who were, in fact, strongly attacked by the BJP. This shows nothing but the party’s blind chase for power; there is no ideology or principle here. There was a vote for change, but the BJP did not accept it, and used every tactic possible to form the government,” Salgaonkar said.
Dwijin Sarma, vice-president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, agreed, saying there was no meaning in a narrative of ‘change’ when all the BJP did was give the reins to old Congressman Himanta Sarma.
“Even BJP leaders quietly agree with the Congress that the party has failed to bring in any change. There is great discontent in the BJP. All it did was bring Congress person, Himanta Sarma, make him the most powerful in the cabinet, and then claim ‘it’s a vote for change’. If it is a vote for change, why bring so many Congress people into your government? I find no meaning in this. People ultimately look for principles, respect that,” Dwijin Sarma said.
However, Ajay Bhatt, president of the Uttarakhand BJP, defended the party against the allegations of ‘Congressisation’, and said former Congress MLAs now in the BJP were fully devoted to the party’s ideology, and were welcomed for their experience and commitment.
“There is no question of ‘Congress-isation’ of the BJP. Six of the nine ministers have a Congress history, but just like the Ganga and the Yamuna merge into the sea, these former Congress persons are now one with the BJP ideology and PM Narendra Modi’s policies and thinking,” Bhatt told ThePrint. “The likes of Harak Singh Rawat and Rekha Arya have a previous BJP background, while Satpal Maharaj and Subodh Uniyal are very senior people.”
“Whether you look at Assam, Goa or Manipur, we have got people from the Congress in state cabinets, as we believe they will serve our cause. Also, certain promises were made to them, and ours is a party that respects the promises it has made.”