M’rashtra BJP woos Cong rebels

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, September 15

Ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the Maharashtra unit of the BJP has begun laying out the red carpet for state-level dissident leaders in the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave enough indication of the BJP’s strategy when he visited the residence of former Mumbai Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kripashankar Singh on Ganesh Chaturthi.

He spent a few minutes at Singh’s residence, sparking speculation in Congress circles even though Shiv Sena leader Milind Narvekar called it “purely a courtesy call.”

Singh, who was forced to resign as Mumbai Congress chief in 2012 following allegations of amassing assets, is yet to be rehabilitated in the party, despite being cleared of all charges of corruption. The Mumbai unit of the Congress is headed by Sanjay Nirupam, who is said to be at loggerheads with Singh.

The BJP stopped criticising Singh last year. On his part, the Congress leader, hopeful of being accommodated in the state unit of the party, stayed away from Bharat Bandh earlier this week. At a function in Ghatkopar last month, Singh had praised Chief Minister Fadnavis for his works.

In private, Congress leaders say the BJP is looking for a North Indian face in Mumbai and has been in touch with Singh for a while. “The BJP is seen as a party of Gujaratis in Mumbai and North Indians, who comprise 30 per cent of the city’s population, are actively wooed by Nirupam,” observed a Congress leader close to the party’s Mumbai unit chief.

Sources say the BJP is also looking at other dissident leaders. “Supporters of senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat, who passed away recently, are feeling ignored by the party leadership,” claimed a party activist associated with the deceased leader.

Some of Kamat’s supporters are expected to join the BJP and the Shiv Sena, say observers.