oppn parties Congress Loses Jitin Prasada To The BJP

Story Of The Day

Assessee Not Responsible For Ensuring TDS Is Paid To The Government: Delhi HC
OPINIONS : Strongly Expressed

January 22, 2025

People Are Talking About

Rohit Warns Sarfaraz, Police Use It To Warn Two-Wheeler Riders

News Snippets

  • Sikh extremists attacked a cinema hall in London that was playing Kangana Ranaut's controversial film 'Emergency'
  • A Delhi court directed the investigating agencies to senstize officers to collect nail clippings, fingernail scrappings or finger swab in order to get DNA profile as direct evidence of sexual attack is often not present and might result in an offender going scot free
  • Uniform Civil Code rules cleared by state cabinet, likely to be implemented in the next 10 days
  • Supreme Court reiterates that there is no point in arresting the accused after the chargesheet has been filed and the investigation is complete
  • Kolkata court sentences Sanjoy Roy, the sole accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case, to life term. West Bengal government and CBI to appeal in HC for the death penalty
  • Supreme Court stays criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against home minister Amit Shah in Jharkhand during the AICC plenary session
  • Government reviews import basket to align it with the policies of the Trump administration
  • NCLT orders liquidation of GoAir airlines
  • Archery - Indian archers bagged 2 silver in Nimes Archery tournament in France
  • Stocks make impressive gain on Monday - Sensex adds 454 points to 77073 and Nifty 141 points to 23344
  • D Gukesh draws with Fabiano Caruana in the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands
  • Women's U-19 T20 WC - In a stunning game, debutants Nigeria beat New Zealand by 2 runs
  • Rohit Sharma to play under Ajinkye Rahane in Mumbai's Ranji match against J&K
  • Virat Kohli to play in Delhi's last group Ranji trophy match against Saurashtra. This will be his first Ranji match in 12 years
  • The toll in the Rajouri mystery illness case rose to 17 even as the Centre sent a team to study the situation
Calling the case not 'rarest of rare', a court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy, the only accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case to life in prison until death
oppn parties
Congress Loses Jitin Prasada To The BJP

By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2021-06-10 06:19:26

Amidst the ongoing turmoil in Punjab and Rajasthan, the Congress received another jolt as prominent leader and once close friend and confidante of Rahul Gandhi, Jitin Prasada, broke three generations of ties with the party and joined the BJP. Although Prasada has not been in the thick of things in the party ever since Rahul Gandh had all but disbanded his old inner circle, was a signatory to the G-23 letter to Sonia Gandhi and had also flirted with the BJP two years back, his 'defection' took the Congress by surprise. The party accused him of following the politics of convenience while Prasada said that he joined the BJP as it was the only truly national party and he believed in the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

For the BJP, Prasada's entry ahead of the polls in UP is being seen as a move to pacify the Brahmin lobby in the state that has been at odds with the state chief minister Yogi Adityanath who is from the Rajput (Thakur) community. Prasada is a prominent Brahmin leader and had held the Brahmin Chetna Samvad in the past to consolidate his position among the Brahmins. It needs to be remembered that Brahmins form about 10 percent of the population in UP and the BJP needs to have them in its corner. Caste alignments are very important in UP and with the BJP facing a tough election which it must win, all help is welcome.

Although it is unlikely that Prasada will be given any position of importance in the run up to the elections, by having him in its party the BJP will try to convince the Brahmins that their interests will not be ignored. Prasada, on the other hand, saw that with the Congress almost wiped off in UP, it was better to join the BJP and work his way up. As of now, neither the BJP nor Prasada gain anything substantial but it fits in with the BJP's policy of continuing to snare leaders from the Congress. As for the Congress, this is one more proof that the party is in drift and those at the helm are least interested in arresting the slide. 

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Turmoil In Mollywood

Turmoil In Mollywood

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

In Depth

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Editor's Pick

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.