Bruised by poll loss, Congress on the ropes in Madhya Pradesh, BJP looks to go in for the kill

Angry Congress workers held up placards with photographs of Jabalpur Mayor Jagat Bahadur Singh “Annu”, with the words “vinamra shraddhanjali (humble tribute)” written on them, even as others took a dip in the Narmada and performed “death rites” on its banks.

“Gaddaro ko pehchan ke, joota maaro taan ke (Identify the traitors, hit them with shoes)”, the Congress workers shouted as they demonstrated on Thursday against Annu’s departure to the BJP. The Congress’s first mayor in Jabapur in 18 years, Annu’s decision to defect took party leaders by surprise at a time when they are still recovering from the Assembly elections in which the BJP won a massive 163 of the 230 Assembly seats.

Not just Annu. With just a few months to go before the Lok Sabha elections, a string of leaders have begun deserting the party. Annu was a confidant of senior MP Vivek Tankha who belongs to former Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s camp. He quit the party on February 7 with more than 50 party leaders from the Mahakaushal region. There, the Congress party has a considerable presence compared to the other regions of the state, where the BJP has set up formidable strongholds. On February 8, former state advocate general Shashank Shekhar joined the BJP. He is also considered close to Tankha and is from Mahakaushal.

They are not alone. Guna leader Sumer Singh, a loyalist of former CM Digvijaya Singh, left the party to join the BJP on February 7. Both Singh and Annu said the senior leadership’s decision to skip the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony was a reason for their departure. A few days ago, Congress leader Ekta Thakur, who was its candidate from Mahakaushal’s Sihora seat, joined the BJP, while last month former Morena MLA and Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist