Even as the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party announced on Wednesday that they will jointly contest the Maharashtra assembly elections in October, many mid-level party leaders have abandoned the alliance in recent months to become members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena.
Last fortnight, for instance, seven Congress corporators from the Thane Municipal Corporation joined the Shiv Sena. The leader of their group, Ravindra Phatak, claimed he felt “suffocated” in the Congress.
This was only the latest in a series of defections in Maharashtra politics that began before the Lok Sabha election and have been increasing as the assembly election approaches. The Congress-NCP combine took a beating in the general elections, winning only six of the state's 48 seats. The BJP, on the other hand, won 23 and its ally the Shiv Sena won 18.
In June, an MLC from Navi Mumbai, Manda Mhatre, also left the NCP in for the BJP. On August 4, Deepak Kesarkar, a former NCP legislator from Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg district, was inducted into the Shiv Sena by party chief Uddhav Thackeray. Kesarkar left the NCP just before the Lok Sabha election because he did not want to campaign for Congress leader Narayan Rane and his son Nilesh Rane in the Konkan coastal strip. He finally joined the Shiv Sena after several months of being in talks with the party.
In March, after NCP leader Vijaykumar Gavit’s daughter Heena Gavit chose to join the BJP, her father was sacked from the office of Maharashtra’s horticulture and medical education minister. Heena Gavit went on to win the Nandurbar Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket.
In February, Sanjay Kaka Patil – an NCP member of the legislative council from Sangli district – quit his post and joined the BJP.
On the face of it, the Congress is affecting nonchalance. “No prominent faces from the Congress have joined the BJP or Shiv Sena," Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant told Scroll.in.
The BJP, on the other hand, is elated by its new members.
“We do not have an exact number, but many Congress and NCP leaders from the state level, district level and lower, have pursued us and chosen to join the BJP,” said Madhav Bhandari, the BJP’s chief spokesperson for Maharashtra. The reason, he says, is because there has been a sea change in the country after his party won a majority in the Lok Sabha election.
“There is extreme angst in Maharashtra against the Congress and NCP combine, and since BJP-Shiv Sena is likely to win in the state election, those in the middle-rungs of parties are looking for good opportunities,” said Bhandari.
Political observers say that the defections are yet another indication that politics in India is no longer about ideology or idealism, but has come to revolve around power and influence. “Everybody who enters politics wants to be on the winning team, so decisions to join a party are made after considering who has more clout with voters at the most local levels,” said Prakash Bal, a political commentator in Mumbai.
As politics moves away from old-school ideology, it be becoming increasingly professional and business-like.
“More and more people from the professional classes are now interested in politics for the power, status, money and prestige, and they are very ambitious about fulfilling their expectations,” said Surendra Jhondale, a political scientist from Mumbai. Free of ideological compunctions, political leaders move to the party that is most likely to give them the ticket they desire.
“In such a competitive environment, politics has become a more lucrative business than ever before," Jhondale said.
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Last fortnight, for instance, seven Congress corporators from the Thane Municipal Corporation joined the Shiv Sena. The leader of their group, Ravindra Phatak, claimed he felt “suffocated” in the Congress.
This was only the latest in a series of defections in Maharashtra politics that began before the Lok Sabha election and have been increasing as the assembly election approaches. The Congress-NCP combine took a beating in the general elections, winning only six of the state's 48 seats. The BJP, on the other hand, won 23 and its ally the Shiv Sena won 18.
In June, an MLC from Navi Mumbai, Manda Mhatre, also left the NCP in for the BJP. On August 4, Deepak Kesarkar, a former NCP legislator from Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg district, was inducted into the Shiv Sena by party chief Uddhav Thackeray. Kesarkar left the NCP just before the Lok Sabha election because he did not want to campaign for Congress leader Narayan Rane and his son Nilesh Rane in the Konkan coastal strip. He finally joined the Shiv Sena after several months of being in talks with the party.
In March, after NCP leader Vijaykumar Gavit’s daughter Heena Gavit chose to join the BJP, her father was sacked from the office of Maharashtra’s horticulture and medical education minister. Heena Gavit went on to win the Nandurbar Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket.
In February, Sanjay Kaka Patil – an NCP member of the legislative council from Sangli district – quit his post and joined the BJP.
On the face of it, the Congress is affecting nonchalance. “No prominent faces from the Congress have joined the BJP or Shiv Sena," Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant told Scroll.in.
The BJP, on the other hand, is elated by its new members.
“We do not have an exact number, but many Congress and NCP leaders from the state level, district level and lower, have pursued us and chosen to join the BJP,” said Madhav Bhandari, the BJP’s chief spokesperson for Maharashtra. The reason, he says, is because there has been a sea change in the country after his party won a majority in the Lok Sabha election.
“There is extreme angst in Maharashtra against the Congress and NCP combine, and since BJP-Shiv Sena is likely to win in the state election, those in the middle-rungs of parties are looking for good opportunities,” said Bhandari.
Political observers say that the defections are yet another indication that politics in India is no longer about ideology or idealism, but has come to revolve around power and influence. “Everybody who enters politics wants to be on the winning team, so decisions to join a party are made after considering who has more clout with voters at the most local levels,” said Prakash Bal, a political commentator in Mumbai.
As politics moves away from old-school ideology, it be becoming increasingly professional and business-like.
“More and more people from the professional classes are now interested in politics for the power, status, money and prestige, and they are very ambitious about fulfilling their expectations,” said Surendra Jhondale, a political scientist from Mumbai. Free of ideological compunctions, political leaders move to the party that is most likely to give them the ticket they desire.
“In such a competitive environment, politics has become a more lucrative business than ever before," Jhondale said.
