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