From JD to BJP and out: It's Dhankhar's turn
Jagdeep Dhankhar
is only the latest case of a bunch of political travellers -- with roots in the perennially bickering erstwhile
Janata Dal
(JD) mob -- who had travelled into the
BJP
, to bag prized posts in the
Narendra Modi
establishment only to be ejected at the sight of crossing the line or error of judgement.
Ex-JD-Congressman Dhankhar, who progressed from the West Bengal Raj Bhavan to the Vice-President's office, shares the same zig-zag journey of fellow 'Jat farmer leader'
Satyapal Malik
, a former JD leader who moved to the BJP and held gubernatorial offices in Bihar, J&K, Odisha, Goa and Meghalaya during the Modi regime only to end up with a bitter and noisy parting. Many in the Opposition are now watching whether Dhankhar too will make noises or opt to play it safe.
It was often said that in the post-2014 BJP surge propelled by the Modi effect, the premium was on ideological alignment and Sangh Parivar grooming, from ABVP-Yuva Morcha upwards, to be considered for key posts in the Centre, and flourish -- with a few exceptions for technocrats with ministerial briefs. Yet, some political aberrations became notable for the way they flourished in the BJP, mostly from the JD background, and some converts from the Congress. Yet, many of them eventually got grounded mostly for apparently failing to master the temperament and instincts of 'the homegrown'.
However, a colleague of Dhankhar and Mallik in the Janata Dal platform, who too later moved to the BJP ecosystem, is
Arif Mohd Khan
, who is going steady in the Modi regime as a rare governor, who got a second posting -- that too in poll-bound Bihar -- after completing a full-term in Kerala. In between, the Modi regime also entered into an ambitious ruling coalition experiment in J&K with yet another Congressman turned Janata Dal-turned PDP leader Mufti Mohd Sayed, who was also with Khan in the VP Singh-floated Jan Morch (of Congress rebels) against Rajiv Gandhi regime, but that coalition in Srinagar unravelled due to in-built contradictions after Mehbooba Mufti became CM after her father's untimely death.
Yet another JD-pedigreed man who found short-term luck as CM of Karnataka was Basavraj Bommai, son of former JD national president SR Bommai, who led the BJP to defeat. Incidentally, a BJP leader, who had held key ministerial posts in the Vajpayee regime and who later made a lot of noise when a 'marg darshak mandal' was created for 75+ old BJP leaders post-2014, was Yashwant Sinha, who too had travelled into the BJP from Janata Dal (from its Chandra Shekhar faction). It was from the Janata Dal camp that Maneka Gandhi (along with her son Varun) joined the BJP with much fanfare as the 'other half of the Gandhi family' during the Vajpayee-Advani era and flourished long before they were denied election tickets and grounded recently.
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Among the Congress converts to the BJP post-2014, Himanta Biswa Sarma is perceived to be the most flourishing one so far, as the party's CM of Assam and a pointsman for the Northeast. Many others, including original Team Rahul members Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jatin Prasada and RPN Singh, thrive in the Modi establishment as ministers and legislators.
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