Modi’s Masterstroke: A game Plan To Rule Without Opposition?

Three former Congress leaders are given important positions in the BJP.

Amarinder Singh, a former chief minister of Punjab, Sunil Jakhar, and Swatantra Dev Singh, a former leader of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, were all named as members of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s national executive on Friday. The party said in a statement that Jaiveer Shergill, a former spokesperson for the Congress, had been named its national spokesperson.

The national executive has sent special invitations to former Uttarakhand BJP chairman Madan Kaushik, former Congressman Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, former Punjab minister Manoranjan Kalia, and Amanjot Kaur Ramoowalia.

Soon after the announcement, Shergill thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP National President JP Nadda, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for choosing him to serve as the party’s national spokesperson.

He then stated that the party leadership had accepted him despite his lack of political experience. He continued by saying that he would leave the “Negative Politics of Criticism of Congress to “kartavya”.” From now on, he promised, “I will change from the destructive politics of criticism practised by the Congress to the constructive politics of development, from the politics of office to the politics of helping the country, from darkness to light, and from ‘chamchagiri’ to ‘kartavya.'” congress

He claimed that the BJP is the future of Punjab’s  while accusing the Congress of having a strong leftist mindset. ““Congress was the history of Punjab, AAP is present but BJP is the future of Punjab.. Therefore, this choice was made after giving attention to the Punjabi people. Congress has adopted a extreme left ideology.

Jaiveer Shergill, a former spokesperson for the Congress, was chosen to serve as the national spokesperson for the BJP months after resigning from all of his party positions and primary membership as a result of a strongly worded letter accusing “self-serving interests of individuals indulging in sycophancy and consistently ignoring ground reality.””

He was quoted as saying, “Sycophancy and coterie is eating into the Indian National Congress like termites,” after leaving the organisation. Following the resignations of two veterans, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma, the senior party leader was the third to leave their positions in August.

In a tweet, Amarinder Singh also extended his gratitude to Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah, and JP Nadda and thanked them for their “confidence in me and selection as a member of the party’s National Executive committee.”

 

Amarinder Singh, a former chief minister, merged his Punjab Lok Congress with the BJP in September. Prior to the Punjab Assembly elections last year, Charanjit Singh Channi succeeded the 80-year-old veteran, who then left the Congress.

Sunil Jakhar, a former leader of the Punjab Congress, defected to the BJP in March after criticising former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Twitter and claiming that he was “not an asset” as the party leadership had claimed.

Jakhar, a three-term MLA and former Lok Sabha representative from Gurdaspur, was expelled from all party positions by the Congress disciplinary committee as a result of accusations of anti-party activity made against him by several leaders of the Punjab unit.

In the meantime, Swatantra Dev Singh, a powerful OBC leader, was promoted to the position of state BJP chief in 2019 after being instrumental in the BJP’s second straight victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.