Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 9: Inflicting a major blow to the Congress in Uttar Pradesh where the state Assembly elections are due in less than a year, the former union minister and a close associate of Rahul Gandhi, Jitin Prasad switched over to the BJP on Wednesday.
More than giving the BJP a “face” among the sizeable Brahmin voters who were increasingly getting alienated from the BJP because of the chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s closer ties with the Rajputs, joining of 47-year old Jitin Prasad, the son of the former Congress stalwart Jitendra Prasad, indicated the suffocation the younger generation in the Congress were feeling within the party.
His statement that he switched over to the BJP because he felt he was “unable to serve the interests of his people and society,” reflected the frustration the Young Turks within the Congress feeling about the present political scenario in the country where they see very little chance for the grand old party to return to power in the near future. It was considered to be the reason why the other close associates of Rahul Gandhi like Jyotiraditya Scindia left the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan believed to be looking for an opportune moment to switch sides.
Jitin’s induction in the BJP took place at the BJP’s national headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and BJP media cell in charge Anil Baluni. Goyal specially mentioned Prasad’s father, the late senior Congress leader Jitendra Prasad, as one who had rendered great services to the people of Uttar Pradesh. “I have been watching Jitin Prasad for many years, he lost his father when he was quite young, but he took on the mantle, and decided to serve Uttar Pradesh, winning two Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2009. He has been diligent in his push for development of his constituency, lobbying hard with the government since 2014 for a railway project in the area,” he said.
For himself, Prasad, one of the signatories of the G23 letter demanding organizational polls, said joining the BJP was a start of a new chapter in his political life and he had done so as he felt it was the only party currently that was an “institutionally national party” and all other parties were either personality oriented or regional in nature. “As for the Congress party, I left because I felt that if one is unable to serve one’s people or protect their interests being in a certain party, it is better to leave. Under the BJP and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I feel that I will be better able to serve my people,” he said at the presser.
Interestingly, his father Jitendra Prasad had contested against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in organisational polls in November 2000, while Jitin was seen as a semi-rebellion in the ranks.
Prasad, who had formed a Brahmin Chetana Manch, with a patchy record of influence, is being seen as a part of the BJP national leadership’s move to press the reset button on the Brahmin-Rajput equations, and settle the upper caste vote consolidation.
It is also significant that the induction comes at a time when BJP and RSS leaders have been engaged in stocktaking exercises in Lucknow and the report submitted to party president J.P. Nadda on that exercise mentioned the resentment of Brahmin leaders in the party against Adityanath.
Prasada’s entry into the party may unsettle some equations in the BJP, not just in the Adityanath camp but also among those Brahmin leaders in the party who were jockeying for position as purveyors of the interests of the community.
Congress insiders and people close to Jitin Prasad said he was increasingly unhappy with the state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh, where assembly polls are due next year, and particularly Shahjahanpur, his home turf. “He told us that he was hardly consulted for UP [Uttar Pradesh] matters and what irked him was the change of guard in the Shahjahanpur district Congress unit without his knowledge,” said a senior UP Congress leader.
Jitin Prasad, who was a Union minister in the previous Congress-led government, won Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2009. He lost the 2014 and 2019 elections while continuing to be Congress’s prominent Brahmin face in Uttar Pradesh.
Jitin Prasad was once considered an integral part of team Rahul Gandhi. He has left the party when Gandhi is expected to return to the helm in a few months. Jitin Prasada’s exit comes months ahead of the party’s organisational election. He focused on West Bengal as the in-charge of the party in the state. But there too, he hardly campaigned and virtually had no say in the matters related to alliances, campaign, and poll management.
“He held a series of meetings in Delhi to strategise the poll campaign and pick an agency run it. Eventually, all his plans gathered dust as Bengal veterans of the party started controlling everything,” said another Congress leader.
In 2020, another prominent young leader, Jyotiraditya Scindia, left the Congress to join the BJP.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who also defected to the BJP from Congress, welcomed Jitin Prasad to his party. “The wrecked and rudderless ‘Titanic’ continues to sink! Welcome @JitinPrasadaji to the BJP Family,” he tweeted.
Scindia, whose joining the BJP last year brought down the Kamal Nath government in MP, gave a warm welcome to Jitin Prasad in his new party. “He is like my younger brother and I welcome him to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). I congratulate him,” Jyotiraditya Scindia, a BJP Rajya Sabha member, said.
Just as Jitin Prasad’s quitting the Congress became public, speculations became rife about the future move of another young leader and close associate of Rahul Gandhi. Sachin Pilot had rebelled against the party leadership last year close on the heels of Scindia switching over to the BJP but had to retrace his steps and stayed with the party after much persuasion but is clearly not happy over the turn of events in the organization where he was feeling that he was not counted at all.
Sachin Pilot’s rebellion against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his near-exit was ascribed to a BJP master plan to topple the Congress government in the state. He finally backed down after a meeting with the Gandhis and told the media that he had been promised a course-correction.
The Congress leadership has yet to deliver on its promise to address Sachin Pilot’s demands after his revolt and he reminded his party leadership in an interview on Monday.
“It has now been 10 months. I was given to understand that there would be swift action by the committee, but now half of the term is done, and those issues haven’t been resolved. It is unfortunate that so many of the party workers who worked and gave their all for getting us the mandate are not being heard,” said Pilot.
“It’s very, very sad that Jitin Prasad has quit the Congress,” Pilot commented.
Scindia, Prasad, Pilot and Milind Deora are all heirloom dynasty politicians and were popularly seen as Next Gen leaders once close to Rahul Gandhi. Their equation with him dissolved during the last two years; Gandhi meanwhile has been singularly unsuccessful in electoral politics, leading his party to defeat in two general elections.
Congress leaders today say these ‘Young Turks’ were aggrandized through their stints as ministers in the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh, and had a charmed career in the party till the Congress’s fortunes waned. “It clearly is not about ideology for these privileged dynasts. They will go where the spoils are,” said a senior party leader.