THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There is a popular banter that today's Congressmen are tomorrow's BJP workers. With the sensational news that former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader K Karunakaran's daughter Padmaja Venugopal has left the party and joined the BJP, this phrase has become even more relevant. BJP workers say that many prominent and not-so-prominent Congress leaders will soon leave the party and join their camp. Although it has been a while since they started talking about it, we have seen some major leaders joining the saffron side as of late, namely AK Antony's son Anil Antony and now Padmaja.

The Congress workers have started saying that even in Kerala, where the Congress has a strong base, the party will face an untimely demise at this rate. The party is even facing a shortage of candidates in states like Uttar Pradesh. There are even those who have accepted BJP membership after being nominated as Congress candidates. Even the leaders who were close to Rahul, Priyanka and Sonia are now hardline 'Sangh' workers.

The Congressmen themselves say that the leaders who have come to the BJP camp from Kerala do not have a popular base. Anyway, leaders switching sides en masse is causing embarrassment to the party. Another reality is that Congressmen themselves secretly agree to this.

Abdullakutty, Tom Vadkan, Anil Antony, C Raghunath, Raman Nair, Padmaja are some of the popular names who came to the saffron camp. Except for Abdullakutty, all the others were staunch Congress leaders. No one even in their wildest dreams thought that these leaders who once gave their all for Congress would become part of BJP, a party they alienated due to communal agendas.

Abdullakutty

AP Abdullakutty was indeed CPM's 'wonder' in Kannur, shocking both the Congress and the BJP. Abdullakutty, who rose through SFI, is notable for winning the Kannur Lok Sabha seat for CPM. He rose to prominence in Kerala politics after defeating Congress leader Mullappally Ramachandran, a five-time Lok Sabha member from Kannur, in the 1999 and 2004 Lok Sabha elections. But it is said that the 'miracle child' turned out to be a 'bad boy' for the CPM. He joined Congress in 2009 after being expelled from CPM. In 2009 and 2011, he became a member of the Legislative Assembly from Kannur on a Congress ticket. By then, Congress also had enough of Abdullakutty. He left shortly before being expelled for praising Modi and joined the BJP in 2019. Now he holds a top position in the party.

Tom Vadakkan

Tom Vadakkan was a leader from Kerala whose sphere of work was Delhi. Tom Vadakkan, who was the national spokesperson of the Congress and Sonia Gandhi's right-hand man, joined BJP in 2019. At the time of joining the BJP, he told the media that he left the grand old party to protest the Congress' stand on the Pulwama attack. Even in the days leading up to leaving the Congress, he had criticized the BJP in harsh language.

Raman Nair

G Raman Nair, who was the president of Travancore Devaswom Board, left the Congress and joined the BJP after a dispute over the Sabarimala issue. He was a member of the KPCC executive committee when he left the party. Raman Nair joined the BJP after he was suspended by the KPCC for inaugurating a protest meeting organized by the BJP on the Sabarimala issue.

He had said that he was punished by the Congress for raising the Sabarimala issue. The BJP also expressed its gratitude by giving the post of vice president to Raman Nair after he joined their side. Raman Nair had said then that Congress is a shipwreck and many more people will come from Congress to BJP. Congress leader and former member of Women's Commission, Advocate G Pramila Devi, who joined the BJP along with Raman Nair, was given state committee membership by the BJP.

Anil Antony

Anil Antony became a popular name among the Congress ranks for being the son of veteran leader AK Antony. He got party statuses in Congress under that label. Anil was the KPCC social media convener when he left the party. A section within the party was strongly opposed to Anil getting the posts for being the son of a veteran leader. He faced a lot of criticism from within the party for taking a different stand on the BBC documentary controversy on Modi. After praising the Prime Minister and the central government, it was almost certain that Anil would jump the ship. BJP thanked AK Antony's son by giving him a Lok Sabha seat.

C Raghunath

C Raghunath is the former district general secretary of Congress in Kannur. In the last assembly elections, he was fielded as the Congress candidate against Pinarayi Vijayan. He left the Congress due to differences of opinion with the leadership.

Raghunath said that he resigned due to the neglect of the leadership. He had openly said that Sudhakaran could never offer much as a KPCC chief. Raghunath is a BJP candidate from Kannur Lok Sabha constituency.

Apart from them, PC Chacko, KV Thomas, PS Prashanth. and KP Anilkumar recently left Congress. But they haven't joined the BJP. But despite that, their departure has also caused a heavy loss to the Congress.

BJP's guarantees

Political observers say that people leave Congress for power. The vast majority of the Congress ranks believe that without power, the party will not survive. They are sure that the Congress, which cannot even form a strong opposition at the Centre, will not come to power in the near future.

However, there were hopes within the Congress ranks in the Assembly elections. But after Pinarayi Vijayan came to power twice in a row, the party stumbled there as well. They also think that the current performance of the party is not enough to bring them to power in the state. At this juncture, CPM and BJP are the avenues ahead for the Congressmen. CPM is not an easy or happy place for Congress workers to join. So they join BJP, where they are welcomed with due respect.