The BJP and the political turncoats

The BJP's assimilation of turncoats from other parties essentially contributes to its expansion not only numerically and geographically but also by enlarging the party's social base

Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) talks up its promise of "Viksit Bharat" (Developed India), it increasingly looks like a party of turncoats. The BJP has tended to drop 20 to 30 per cent of sitting legislators in every election to counter anti-incumbency. But why is it filling these vacancies with defectors from the Opposition?

A recent analysis in The Print showed that 28 per cent of the candidates nominated by the BJP till now are defectors from other parties. One in four of BJP's Lok Sabha candidates is probably a rank opportunist.

Of the 116 defectors fielded in 417 constituencies (declared until March 31, 2024), 85 per cent joined the party after 2014, and most did so on the eve of the general elections. About one-third of them have spent less than two years in the BJP.

One explanation is that it helps the party expand its footprint in states where the BJP has no presence, such as in India's Eastern and Southern states. In Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Odisha, 31 candidates fielded by the BJP are defectors. Similarly, in Andhra Pradesh, five of the six fielded candidates are defectors. Most of the defectors fielded by the BJP in Southern India have come from Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the Telugu Desam Party and the AIADMK, besides the Congress. In West Bengal, the party has given Lok Sabha tickets to seven turncoats from the Trinamool Congress. Some have even been "borrowed" from its allies, as in Vellore, Perambalur and Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu, to contest on the BJP symbol.

But then, why have defectors been inducted in states where the BJP is strong? In its bastion of Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has fielded 20 defectors out of 64 candidates announced for the general election. In Haryana, their number is 6 out of 10 Lok Sabha seats; in Maharashtra, 7 out of 24; and in Jharkhand, 6 out of 14 seats. Perhaps by bleeding the Opposition parties, especially their high-profile candidates, the BJP counts on demoralising their leadership and ranks.

However, the bigger question is whether promoting defectors from the Opposition impacts the BJP's basic ideological principles and discipline. The BJP's mother organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), prides itself on training Hindu nationalists from a tender childhood to full-fledged adults who then go on to man its various social and political fronts. Would such an ideologically steeped family of organisations want outsiders to dilute its commitment to its millennial ideology?

First, it must be noted that today's BJP is able to pursue power without losing its ideological fundamentals by establishing a distance between the core and the periphery. The core leadership is the self-appointed guardian of the ideology and directs the policies of its governments at the centre and in the states. The persons brought in as instruments to expand the party's power by winning elections only populate the periphery.

Second, the turncoats who join the BJP are either bereft of ideology or make no attempt to dilute its ideology. They are simply in the business of politics – becoming a legislator is one more way of facilitating money-making while also acquiring social capital and respectability. They want to be on the winning side and defect opportunistically.

That is why, despite their increasing presence in the party since 2014, Prime Minister Modi is still able to push the party's core majoritarian agenda, whether it is on Kashmir, building the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, amending the Constitution to change citizenship laws, or taking steps towards a uniform civil code (UCC).

Defectors who come to the BJP from the other parties remain on the periphery unless they ideologically transform themselves. They have no say in policy formulation. Only some can make the transition. Himanta Biswa Sarma (a defector from the Congress) is exceptional in becoming the toast of the party.

Others like Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan (a defector from the Bahujan Samaj Party) or Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar (a defector from the Congress) have gained the trust of the core leadership and are happy with the crumbs they get. The more ambitious among them, unable to make it to the core, like Satyapal Malik (a defector from the Samajwadi Party) or Chaudhary Birender Singh of Haryana (a defector from the Congress), lose out in the power game.  

The BJP's assimilation of turncoats from other parties contributes to its expansion numerically and geographically by enlarging the party's social base. This is why it can no longer be called a "Bania Party"; it has expanded its social coalition to include upper castes, OBCs, Dalits, and tribals. Many leaders among these castes and communities have been appointed as Chief Ministers and to high constitutional positions.

Inducting outsiders is not new to the BJP. Sarbananda Sonowal from the Asom Gana Parishad went on to become the first BJP chief minister of Assam. Yogi Adityanath comes from a Hindu tradition different from the RSS and the BJP. However, he, too, was inducted into the BJP despite periodic confrontations with the party by fielding his own candidates against it. He was even made chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Following the induction of Sonowal in Assam, the AGP became second fiddle to the BJP. Bringing Yogi Adityanath inside the BJP tent meant that his entire network of workers became part of the BJP's support base in Eastern UP, a region where it had no influence earlier.  

There is then a symbiotic relationship between turncoats and the BJP. They help extend the BJP's social base while also helping it psychologically weaken and demoralise the Opposition parties. Defectors also supply the BJP with winnable candidates and help it counter anti-incumbency against MPs in office. In the long run, they help make the BJP a much larger political force with an expanded social base. Since Indian democratic politics has become increasingly transactional, defection does not seem to disturb the voter too much or result in public anger.