EXODUS HITS CONGRESS

Scores of Congress leaders and workers shift allegiance to the BJP, raising questions about the Grand Old Party's winnability, unity and leadership stability

- Rahul Noronha

Former state home minister Narottam Mishra now does duty as the convenor of the local BJP joining cell. It's a job that keeps him incredibly busy these days. On March 29, Kamlesh Shah, a threeterm Congress MLA from Amarwara, drove up to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav's residence in Bhopal and joined the BJP along with other members of his family, including wife Madhvi Shah, the president of the Harrai nagar panchayat in Chhindwara district. The welcome party included the CM, state BJP president V.D. Sharma and Mishra himself, who uttered a line that he could probably say in his sleep by now: that Shah had been "inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership".

Three days later, Chhindwara mayor Vikram Ahake, the state's youngest and first tribal mayor and a key loyalist of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath, also switched to the BJP camp. He claimed he was upset about MP Nakul Nath's remarks about tribals.