The most recent Congress dynast to stop the celebration, Bittu follows within the footsteps of the so-called younger weapons Milind Deora, R.P.N. Singh, Sushmita Dev, Jitin Prasada, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, who have been as soon as thought-about near Rahul Gandhi. Whereas these Congress dynasts have cited causes starting from the celebration’s “disconnect” from the folks and “chapter” to their pursuit of “improvement”, former Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha got here up with three different elements that might have led to their swap.
“One, they’re a part of a dynasty, thus had easy accessibility to the highest management. If that entry received dented, for no matter purpose, they felt that they have been ignored or sidelined,” stated Jha, who was suspended from the celebration in 2020 after calling for a “reawakened and revitalised Congress”.
Second, Jha stated, leaders who’ve accountability or affect from a younger age are usually not used to staying with out it for too lengthy. “In the event that they see they’re changing into politically irrelevant, they start to get anxious,” he stated.
The third issue, based on him, is that “coming from a political household additionally carries a sure baggage of residing as much as sure social expectations or peer stress”.
Rahul Verma, a fellow on the Centre for Coverage Analysis, stated electoral prospects are often behind such selections. “…they don’t see a political future within the celebration that they’re in. They’re shifting in direction of a celebration they suppose has a greater electoral prospect,” stated Verma.
However, Jha stated, the pattern would reverse in favour of the Congress if it returned to energy. “If tomorrow, the Congress returns to energy, most of them could be very happy to return,” he stated.
Verma agreed, saying, “If you consider the Nineteen Sixties or Seventies, a variety of politicians would be a part of the Congress celebration. Typically, the Congress used to poach (leaders from different events). For the time being, the BJP is in an analogous place.”
“Any celebration that occurs to be stronger will entice politicians of all hues and hues as a result of it might probably provide them higher electoral prospects. Ultimately, politicians are within the enterprise of politics. They need to brighten their profession prospects,” he added.
ThePrint seems at 12 circumstances like Bittu’s — scions of former Congress CMs switching to the BJP over the previous 10 years.
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Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of Ok. Karunakaran
Bittu joined the BJP simply weeks after former Kerala CM Ok. Karunakaran’s daughter, Padmaja Venugopal.
Whereas quitting the Congress earlier this month, she stated, “There needs to be a powerful management in each celebration. Within the Congress, there isn’t any management. I’ve nice respect for Sonia ji. However I can’t see her. She didn’t give (me) an appointment.”
Addressing a press convention on the BJP headquarters, Venugopal stated that whereas she was comfortable to have joined the celebration, she was additionally a “little bit tense” as a result of she was with the Congress for a few years.
Her becoming a member of was a shot within the arm for the BJP, which has been attempting to realize floor within the southern state.
Ashok Chavan, son of Shankarrao Chavan
Ashok Chavan has the excellence of not solely being the son of a chief minister but additionally a chief minister himself between 2008 and 2010. He joined the BJP final month. His father, Congress chief Shankarrao Chavan, served because the chief minister of Maharashtra throughout the emergency from 1975 to 1977 and once more from 1986 to 1988.
Quickly after inducting the youthful Chavan, the BJP nominated him to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra.
Although a outstanding chief of his time, Chavan misplaced the Nanded Lok Sabha seat in 2019 by over 40,000 votes. From 2014 to 2019, he was the Congress chief within the state.
He additionally served as a minister within the Maha Vikas Aghadi authorities, an alliance of the Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Occasion, until 2022.
Whereas becoming a member of the BJP, Chavan stated, “Taking (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi’s inspiration, I ought to have the ability to work in direction of Maharashtra’s and the nation’s improvement.”
Anil Antony, son of A.Ok. Antony
Anil Antony, the son of former Union defence minister and Kerala chief minister A.Ok. Antony, joined the BJP final yr.
A.Ok. Antony served as Kerala’s chief minister 3 times. Although he’s now not energetic in politics, the 83-year-old has known as his son’s determination “incorrect” and stated it pained him.
The BJP appointed Anil Antony as its nationwide spokesperson quickly after his induction. He’ll struggle the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Pathanamthitta because the celebration makes an attempt to develop its footprint within the state.
“Each Congress employee believes they’re working for a household,” he stated after becoming a member of the BJP. In his resignation letter, he had attacked the Gandhis, saying they’re “solely eager to work with a bunch of sycophants and chamchas” who would “unquestionably” be at their “beck and name”.
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Om Prakash Pahadia, son of Jagannath Pahadia
Forward of the 2023 Rajasthan meeting polls, BJP inducted Om Prakash Pahadia, the son of former Rajasthan chief minister Jagannath Pahadia, together with Vijendra Singh Shekhawat, the nephew of former President Pratibha Patil.
The elder Pahadia, a Congress chief, was thought-about near Sanjay Gandhi and served as Rajasthan’s solely Dalit chief minister between 1980-81. He additionally served as governor of Haryana and Bihar in two totally different stints.
His son has been much less lucky. The Congress fielded him from the Weir meeting seat in Bharatpur within the 2013 state elections. However he misplaced the seat, beforehand held by his father.
His mom, Shanti Pahadia, additionally a Congress member, was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan in 1984.
Raninder Singh, son of Amarinder Singh
Raninder Singh, who now writes “Modi ka Parivar” on his X bio, once fought with folks on the platform, saying, “I’m in (the) Congress, and I’m pleased with it. What’s bugging you?”
A four-time president of the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation of India (NRAI), he’s the son of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh.
Amarinder Singh twice served as Punjab chief minister, from 2002 to 2007 and from 2017 to 2021. He joined the BJP in 2022, together with some members of his household, together with Raninder.
In 2012, Raninder Singh fought the Punjab state polls from Samana on a Congress ticket and misplaced. The Congress went on to type the federal government that yr.
Jai Inder Kaur, daughter of Amarinder Singh
Like Raninder, his sister Jai Inder Kaur joined the BJP with different members of the family in September 2022.
Her mom, Preneet Kaur, has been elected to the Patiala Lok Sabha seat 4 occasions, and it has been speculated that the BJP might area both the mom or the daughter this time.
Jai Inder Kaur now heads BJP’s Mahila Morcha in Punjab.
Patiala is the stronghold of Amarinder Singh, who’s a member of the area’s erstwhile royal household. After leaving the Congress in 2021, Amarinder floated his personal celebration, Punjab Lok Congress. Kaur was the celebration’s vp until it merged with the BJP.
Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, son of N.D. Tiwari
Rohit Shekhar Tiwari joined the BJP in January 2017 together with his 91-year-old father, former Congress chief N.D. Tiwari. It was a shot within the arm for the BJP, coming forward of the state meeting polls. However the youthful Tiwari was murdered in 2019, and a case towards his spouse is sub-judice.
N.D. Tiwari is the one politician to have served as chief minister of two states within the nation. Whereas within the Congress, he served as Uttar Pradesh chief minister 3 times — 1976-77, 1984-85, and 1988-89 — and in Uttarakhand from 2002 to 2007. He additionally served because the Union exterior affairs minister below Rajiv Gandhi. After his tenure as Uttarakhand CM, he served as Andhra Pradesh governor from 2007 to 2009.
Vishwajit Rane, son of Pratapsingh Rane
Goa well being minister Vishwajit Rane is the son of Congress chief Pratapsingh Rane, a seven-time chief minister of Goa. Vishwajit resigned from the Congress in 2017, citing the celebration’s failure to type the federal government regardless of being the one largest celebration.
His spouse, Deviya Rane, has additionally been a BJP MLA from Poriem since 2022. Her father-in-law beforehand held the seat after its structure in 1989.
Pratapsingh Rane continues to be within the Congress and is the celebration’s seniormost chief within the state. Father and son sat on reverse sides within the meeting between 2017 and 2022.
In 2022, Pratapsingh Rane stepped again and declined to struggle the state elections after the Congress had already introduced his candidature.
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Pema Khandu, son of Dorjee Khandu
5 years after his father, then Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu, died in an air crash, Pema Khandu turned chief minister of the state in 2016.
Like his father, Pema Khandu was sworn in when he was a Congress chief. However he and different MLAs joined the Individuals’s Occasion of Arunachal quickly afterwards, after which the BJP inside one yr to type a brand new authorities.
“The folks of Arunachal Pradesh all the time needed a authorities that was according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s,” Khandu stated whereas becoming a member of the BJP.
Since Khandu’s swap in 2016, it has been a downhill slide for the Congress within the state. In 2019, Khandu was sworn in for a second time after the BJP gained 41 out of 60 seats within the state polls. As soon as the ruling celebration, the Congress was lowered to 4 seats and got here behind the Janata Dal (United).
Gurkanwal Kaur, daughter of Beant Singh
Gurkanwal Kaur, daughter of Beant Singh (and aunt of Ravneet Singh Bittu), is exclusive on this record since she has returned to the Congress fold.
In 2017, Kaur, whereas becoming a member of the BJP within the presence of Union minister Arun Jaitley, stated, “My father laid down his life for the prosperity of Punjab; we sacrificed our lives for the Congress; however at the moment, that celebration neither worries in regards to the nation nor does it look after us.”
However three days later, she was again within the Congress. Amarinder Singh, who was with the Congress then, welcomed her return, and Kaur stated she was comfortable to be again in her “political household”.
Kaur served as an MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment from 2002 to 2007 and a minister within the Amarinder Singh-led authorities. As a sitting MLA, she misplaced the 2007 polls by 17,000 votes.
Beant Singh served as chief minister of Punjab from 1992 to 1995 earlier than being assassinated in a bomb blast on the secretariat advanced in Chandigarh.
Vijay Bahuguna, son of H.N. Bahuguna
Vijay Bahuguna, one other second-generation chief minister, was among the many 9 Congress rebels who joined the BJP in 2016 when Harish Rawat was on the helm of state affairs.
He’s the son of Congress chief H.N. Bahuguna, who served because the Uttar Pradesh chief minister from 1973-75.
Vijay Bahuguna was the Uttarakhand chief minister throughout the 2013 Kedarnath flash floods, with the Congress asking him to resign over the dealing with of the catastrophe that left tons of of individuals lifeless.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi, daughter of H.N. Bahuguna
Months after her brother joined the BJP, Rita Bahuguna Joshi adopted. Joshi, a former Congress chief in Uttar Pradesh, was thought-about near Rahul Gandhi.
Nevertheless, whereas resigning from Congress, she stated, “Not simply the UP Congress, however the complete nation is sad with the management of Rahul Gandhi.”
Joshi served within the first Yogi Adityanath-led UP authorities as a minister. Then she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Prayagraj in 2019.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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