The 44 Congress legislators from Gujarat who have taken refuge at a resort owned by a Karnataka Congress Minister may be an attempt for the party to salvage whatever leftover strength it has for not only exposing BJP’s ‘corruption-free agenda’ but also the weak ground it is standing in Gujarat. Desperate to keep its flock together ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat on August 8, the Congress has accused the BJP’s central leadership of misusing the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to split the party in Gujarat. The power balance maintaining price according to Congress legislators is that ruling BJP is poaching MLAs for Rs 15 crore each. The protection of Gujarat MLAs is seen as a move by the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddarmaiah to pay back his debt to Ahmed Patel who was responsible for his entry into the Congress after he quit the Janata Dal (S), headed by former Prime Minister H.D Deve Gowda, in 2006. Siddaramaiah said no Congress leader from Karnataka had offered him a place in the party then. The much promised corruption-free administration carried forward by BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, looks like to have boomeranged in his own turf he ruled for quite a long time setting an example of glowing Gujarat. One cannot believe politicians are so straight forward that they will quit their chair without an allegation a la Anandi Behan episode. Gujarat will shadow political fortune of BJP. So as a face saving exercise the party may not want to cloud its electoral prospects with the defeats. The inability to deal with Patidar agitation last year for reservation for Patel community led by Hardik Patel was the turning point and set off talks that BJP no longer hold the reins of state which had become a standard setter for the country with tall claims of progress and development. It was in the aftermath of the Patidar stir that BJP reluctantly went into the local bodies elections that were virtually thrust upon the party by the Court. The result was BJP’s worst ever show in the last two decades.
