Be it young or old leaders, Congress faces a commitment crisis

A close look at the desertions from Congress since 2014 shows that ideological commitment is an issue on which the seniors have also been found wanting

Latching on to Rahul Gandhi's once close associate Jitin Prasada joining BJP, Congress veterans raised questions on the ideological commitments of the young deserters, but a close look at the list of leaders who left the party since 2014, does not paint a rosy picture of the seniors as well.

Be it the young or the old leaders, Congress stares at a crisis of commitment with deserters including at least five chief ministers in the past.

A day after Prasada quit Congress and joined BJP, former Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday coined the term "Prasada Ram" to mock the likes of Jitin, who moved to the BJP in hope of some plum post, after having served in Congress.

Read: Jitin Prasada reveals why he left Congress

"Jitin Prasada Joins BJP. The question is will he get 'prasada' from BJP or is he just a ‘catch’ for UP elections? In such deals if ‘ideology’ doesn’t matter changeover is easy," Sibal tweeted. Talking to NDTV separately, he emphatically ruled out any such move for himself, declaring "it would be over my dead body" .

Another old war horse of Congress M Veerappa Moily in an interview to PTI said that the top leadership must give primacy to ideological commitment while giving responsibility to leaders and called for a major "surgery" to be competitive now as "there is no tomorrow".

Many Congress workers also took to social media to express outrage with photos of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who helped the BJP reclaim Madhya Pradesh by resigning from Congress in March 2020 and Sachin Pilot, whose run-ins with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot continue to raise the possibility of another break up in Congress any time.

But a close look at the desertions from Congress since 2014 (when Narendra Modi-led BJP came to power), shows that ideological commitment is an issue on which the seniors have also been found wanting.

Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan, a close aide of Sonia Gandhi, resigned from Congress after serving the party for 20 years and immediately joined the BJP in March 2019.

Congress has lost to BJP over a dozen leaders including former chief ministers and former Union ministers.

They include former Union ministers D Purandeswari, Krishna Tirath, former Uttarakhand CM Vijay Bahuguna, former Maharashtra Chief Minister (when he was in Shiv Sena) and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane, N Biren Singh, a Cabinet minister in previous Congress-led government of Manipur, who is now Chief Minister from BJP, Himanta Biswa Sarma, once the number two of Congress in Assam and now the state Chief Minister from BJP.

The list includes former External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who had also served as Chief Minister of Karnataka as well as veteran ND Tiwari (who died in October 2018 ), who was made Chief Minister of both Uttar Pradesh and then truncated Uttarakhand. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prema Khandhu, who extended his warmest welcome to Prasada for having joined the "right place that nurtures talent", had quit Congress in October 2016 with 43 MLAs and is currently Chief Minister from BJP.

However, BJP is not the only beneficiary of the fire in the Congress backyard. Five-time Chief Minister of Meghalaya Donwa Dethwelson Lapang had resigned from Congress and joined NPP in 2018.