By IANS,
Bhopal : In an attempt to “dishearten” its opponents, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh has majorly started a political poaching and recruitment drive, and claims that since the announcement of the general elections, as many as 3,000 political workers and leaders from other parties have come into its fold.
Not only those leaders who have been denied tickets for Lok Sabha elections by their parties, but also those who feel sidelined in their party form the majority of those coming to the BJP, party sources said.
Major leaders such as state presidents of parties which are aiming at forming the next government at the centre have joined the BJP. Many leaders from the Congress, the main opposition in the state, have also followed suit, party sources said.
“We had planned to bring in at least two stalwarts of other parties almost every Sunday till the elections are over and we are moving in that direction,” a senior member of the BJP’s legal cell said.
“We are least bothered about the ideology of the person joining us at this point of time. It is the question of demoralising the opponent. It’s a strategy. A disheartened enemy will never be able to give you a tough fight,” said a BJP leader who did not wish to be named.
Former union minister and Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS) leader Prahlad Patel joined the BJP in the recent past along with Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) former state president Phool Singh Baraiya, Lok Janshakti Party’s (LJP) former state chief Bhujbal Singh Ahirwar and the Congress party’s former state general secretary Narmada Prasad Sharma.
The other prominent leaders who have joined or returned to the BJP include former Congress legislator Shankar Pratap Singh Bundela, legislator Santosh Sahu, Om Prakash Rawat of the BSP and TV comedian Kuldeep Dubey.