BJP encounters hurdles in toppling game

India is witnessing a gripping episode of its long-running political game of thrones. The locale this time is the western state of Rajasthan. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s six years in office, his Bharatiya Janata Party has grabbed power in half a dozen states by chalking up a legislative majority by poaching members from other parties, mainly the Congress.

When elections throw up a hung Assembly, it moves with lightning speed and accomplishes the mission even before the Congress realises what is up.

When the Congress forms the government, the BJP bides its time and strikes after lining up enough defectors to seize power. The standard practice is to shepherd the turncoats initially into a resort in a state under the BJP’s control to prevent the Congress from enticing them back. From there they are taken to the Assembly to vote on the day set by the Governor for the Chief Minister to prove he enjoys majority support.

Home Minister Amit Shah, Modi’s chief lieutenant, is the chief of the operations. So far he has lured into the BJP more than 100 Congress MLAs and packed off six Congress governments.

The BJP often prepares the ground for toppling by setting the Centre’s investigating agencies after vulnerable Congressmen.  Huge sums of money are rumoured to change hands.

Until now the Congress, unable to foil the BJP game, watched helplessly as its governments fell.

 In Rajasthan, instead of remaining a passive spectator, it assumed a pro-active role. In the 2018 elections, the BJP had lost power in the state. The Congress, which won half of the 200 Assembly seats, formed the government with outside support.

The party’s choice for the Chief Minister’s post was a veteran, Ashok Gehlot. Sachin Pilot, a younger leader who had eyed the post, was made Deputy Chief Minister.

A fortnight ago, 18 MLAs owing allegiance to Pilot checked into a resort at Manesar in BJP-ruled Haryana. Congress Party Whip Mahesh Jain lodged a complaint with the police, alleging a BJP conspiracy to overthrow the government.

The Special Operations Group (SOG) of the police issued notices to Gehlot, Pilot and Jain for recording their statements.

An SOG team went to Maneser to interrogate the MLAs. The Haryana police held them back to give the MLAs time to skip out through a back door. Gehlot told the press the SOG was also investigating a complaint by Jain about BJP attempts to buy Congress legislators’ votes in the Rajya Sabha elections.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau of the police also began a probe on the basis of two clips of telephone conversations between BJP leaders and Congress MLAs.

Among those named in the first information report filed in this connection are Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Sanjay Jain, identified as an intermediary between BJP leaders and Congress MLAs.

The Congress demanded Shekhawat’s resignation. The BJP demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the tapping of phones by Rajasthan authorities.

Pilot did not turn up for a Cabinet meeting called by Gehlot. He also did not respond to the party’s public appeals to return. However, he established a line to the party’s central leadership through former Union Minister P. Chidambaram.

The Congress Whip petitioned Speaker CP Joshi to disqualify Pilot and his supporters under the anti-defection law. When the Speaker issued show-cause notices to them, they moved the High Court.

The Court set Monday for hearing the petitions and asked the Speaker not to take any decision on the disqualification issue until Tuesday (today) evening.

Pilot publicly stated he was not planning to join the BJP. His supporters said they had not defied any party whip. Gehlot, who was summoned by Governor Kalraj Mishra, a BJP appointee, submitted to him names of legislators supporting him. They included members of two regional parties which have offered support to his government.

The Governor is likely to set a date soon for him to prove his majority on the floor of the house.

How the issue pans out will be known in the course of the week. Congress leaders have criticised Modi for pursuing the toppling game when the nation is facing critical issues like Covid and Chinese incursions. But the BJP is possibly viewing it as a good diversion from such issues.  

Regardless of how the sordid drama ends the Congress has to ponder over ways to keep its flock together.