Political leaders who switched loyalties face uncertain future

As the dust settles after the results of the Haryana Assembly elections, a cloud of uncertainty looms over the political future of several prominent leaders who switched parties just before the polls.

Among those facing an unclear path ahead are former Minister Karandev Kamboj, former Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs) Bakhshish Singh Virk, several former councillors of the city and others. Despite making high-profile shifts to the Congress after being denied tickets by the BJP, their gamble has not paid off, leaving their political careers in limbo.

• 0Former state president of the OBC Cell of BJP Karandev Kamboj switched sides to the Congress following the denial of a ticket from the BJP.Kamboj had sought a ticket from either Indri or Radaur. However, the party fielded ex-MLA Shyam Singh Rana from Radaur and sitting MLA Ram Kumar Kashyap from Indri, which left Kamboj enraged.
• 0Bakhshish Singh Virk, once a prominent BJP leader and former Chief Parliamentary Secretary, also jumped ship to the Congress after facing a ticket denial.
• He also did not contest the elections, but the Congress candidate failed to get desired results from Assandh, casting a shadow over his political future.

Former state president of the OBC Cell of BJP Karandev Kamboj switched sides to the Congress following the denial of a ticket from the BJP. Kamboj had sought a ticket from either Indri or Radaur. He had even accused the BJP of giving tickets to a ‘traiter’ from Radaur. He had even extended his support to Congress candidate Rakesh Kamboj in Indri and Bisan Lal Saini from the Radaur Assembly segment.

However, the party decided to field former MLA Shyam Singh Rana from Radaur, and sitting MLA Ram Kumar Kashyap from Indri, which left Kamboj in anger. He alleged that Rana had quit the BJP during the 2019 Assembly elections and had only rejoined recently after spending nearly five years with the INLD.

Similarly, Bakhshish Singh Virk, once a prominent face in the BJP, also jumped ship to the Congress after facing a ticket denial. He also did not contest the elections, but the Congress candidate failed to get desired results from Assandh, casting a shadow over their political future.

Besides, former CPS Zile Ram Sharma is also among those who had quit the BJP and contested as Independent candidate, also failed to achieve the expected outcome on the Assandh seat.

As per the political experts despite strong backing from local supporters and considerable anticipation that these leaders could turn the tide in their favour, it seems their political bets seem to have misfired.

They suggest that the results reflect a miscalculation on the part of these leaders. “Switching loyalties in the 11th hour has its risks. Many of these leaders underestimated the influence and organisation of their original party and overestimated their ability to impress voters after shifting sides,” said Dr Kushal Pal, a political analyst and principal of Indira Gandhi National College.

However, the leaders claimed that they would remain among people to raise their voice. Karandev Kamboj said he was in the Congress and would work to raise the voice of people of Haryana. “I am now in the Congress. Even if the Congress has lost in these elections, we will highlight the issue of the people of Haryana,” said Kamboj.