Himanta Biswa Sarma, another Congress leader who made it big outside the party

After being named BJP's choice for the next Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma has joined the league of several Congressmen, who did not find a prominent position within the party but rose to top positions elsewhere, either by hitching their wagons to the BJP or charting out an independent course.

In cases of many, it was not any principled choice but the passion of power that made them move their seats. Himanta, N Biren Singh, Prema Khandu left Congress and made a political capital for them in the BJP, while Jaganmohan Reddy in Telangana made fortunes charting an independent course like Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar in West Bengal and Maharashtra. Jyotiraditya Scindia awaits his luck in Madhya Pradesh, while Vijay Bahuguna in Uttarakhand has not been so lucky.

Also read — BJP names former Congress 'dissident' Himanta Biswa Sarma as Assam's new CM

Sarma, once a key strategist of Congress will take oath as Assam Chief Minister of Assam, albeit as a leader in the BJP nearly six years after he had quit his parent party in September 2015 over power tussle with incumbent Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. In 2016, he took revenge, helping the BJP oust Congress and form its form government in Assam, and opening its account in the North East. Five years later, he managed to get the coveted CM chair after ensuring a second consecutive win to the BJP as Congress got pushed further in the background.

Sarma, a Brahmin, is a not lone Congressman who deserted the party after complaining of not getting his due. A number of them chose the resurgent BJP after 2014 Lok Sabha elections and made big gains in their political career for themselves. In another North-East state, Manipur, the BJP lapped up N Biren Singh in October 2016, the number 2 in the Congress state hierarchy then. Singh revolted against then Chief Minister of Congress Okram Ibobi Singh and joined the BJP with his supporters. In the Assembly election next year, the BJP managed to form a government with support from allies even as the Congress was the single largest party. Singh became Chief Minister and continued to rule the state weathering many storms including the one in 2020 when his Deputy Chief Minister resigned with nearly half a dozen MLAs.

Also read: Incumbent Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal submits his resignation

The BJP is in power in all eight north-eastern states. While it ruled Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur on its own, it is in power with coalition partners in the rest. The current Arunachal CM Prema Khandu had quit the Congress in October 2016 with 43 MLAs to join the People's Party of Arunachal, which in alliance with the BJP formed the next government. Three months later, Khandu along with 33 MLAs broke away from PPA, joined the BJP, and became Chief Minister. Khandu-led BJP won the 2019 Assembly polls and stayed as the CM.

After the death of his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, a two-term Congress Chief Minister in a plane crash in 2009, his son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy staked claim for the Chief Ministership. The Congress refused and Jagan formed a new party YSRCP in 2011. In the 2014 Assembly polls, he lost to the TDP-BJP alliance, getting two per cent fewer votes than them. In the very next poll in 2019, the YSRCP decimated other parties and Jagan became CM at the age of 46. The Congress was lost into oblivion.

"Several young leaders, who quit Congress have managed to stay afloat on their own while the Congress, which could not retain them lost relevance in those states, be it West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and now you see it happening in Assam. Something seriously needs to be done by the party to correct this trend. Most of the leaders who left complained they did not get an audience when they raise the issue," says political commentator Rasheed Kidwai.

Apart from these recent names, there is a history of Congress leaders deserting their parent party and standing on their own. The most glaring example is Mamata Banerjee, who became the third Chief Minister of West Bengal this month. She had quit the Congress in 1997 and formed Trinamool Congress, bringing an end to the 34-year-long rule of Left Front in West Bengal in 2011, and is the Chief Minister of the state since then.

Also read — From Congress dissenter to 'biggest player' in BJP: Twists and turns in Himanta Biswa Sarma's career

Though the contexts are different, even Jyotiraditya Scindia, the erstwhile Congress leader who was a minister in two UPA governments in past, helped the BJP reclaim Madhya Pradesh by resigning from the Congress in March 2020. This was just one and a half years after the fighting trio of the state Congress, Scindia, Digvijay Singh, and Kamal Nath, had come together and brought an end to the Congress's 15-year-long exile from power in 2018. Scindia after a prolonged power tussle with Kamal Nath and Digvijay and after having denied the state Presidency for long, chose to hitch his wagon to the BJP. While Scindia has not been given any big position so far, age is on his side and he could just be staring at his cherished dream as the BJP has exception relations with Scindia family starting with his grand mother Vijaya Raje Scindia, who nurtured and nourished the Jan Sangh and the BJP in its early days.

The not so go lucky

In Uttarakhand, Vijay Bahuguna (another Brhamin) leader revolted his Congress Chief Minister Harish Rawat in March 2016 leading to the imposition of President Rule in the state, paving the way for victory of the BJP in the Assembly election in the state the following year. He along with his supporters, joined the BJP. His brother and son got accommodated while Bahuguna was last considered for a Rajya Sabha nomination. However, he is yet to make anything big for himself in the BJP so far. Bahuguna's sister Rita Bahuguna Joshi, a former Congress chief for Uttar Pradesh, quit the party, joined the Samajwadi Party and then the BJP and is currently a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.

After leaving the Congress in 1999, Pawar formed the NCP with Tariq Anwar and P A Sangma. Pawar came back to UPA as Union Minister, Anwar back to Congress, and Sangma failed to make an impact in creating an alternative political platform. Pawar, has, however, managed to stay afloat as a powerful voice in political circles with relations across the political spectrum. Many believe, he could play a major role in creating a non-NDA alternative.