How BJP is engineering the ‘great Congress exodus’ in Madhya Pradesh

Former Bhopal corporator Sanjay Varma is a dyed-in-the-wool BJP karyakarta. But these days he spends his time talking to Congress workers over the phone, something he never imagined would happen in his lifetime.

Varma, dressed in a white shirt and jeans, confidently strides towards the Madhya Pradesh BJP headquarters as junior party workers greet him. “I worked in the Bhopal municipal corporation for five years. These days, I get to decide the Congress leaders who want to join our party. I am a member of the new joining committee and it is my job to decide which Congress leader is a true ‘Ram Bhakt (Ram devotee)’ and who is an opportunist trying to hide in the crowd of thousands and slip past our radar,” Varma tells The Indian Express.

In the past two months, the committee headed by former state Home Minister Narottam Mishra has been busy inducting Congress workers into the party. According to the committee’s figures, 16,111 Congress leaders and workers and a handful of leaders from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have joined the party since March 21. “After Holi, a Guinness World Record will be created regarding membership,” Mishra says.

Each district has a joining committee comprising three members, including an MP, MLA, and another senior leader. After screening the names, the panel sends a list to a team comprising CM Mohan Yadav, state BJP chief V D Sharma, and Mishra. The state leadership takes the call. For the big names, the central leadership makes the decision.

But the Congress alleges that the BJP is lying. “We have 90 lakh workers who are on the official rolls of the party. The BJP has been lying about its figures. The actual tally of leaders who left the party is around 600, as per our