Increasing desertions threatens to make the summer of 2014 not a very memorable one for the Congress party. The party's situation can be well understood as it has been forced to field legislators from the Rajya Sabha to fight the polls while many of its current Lok Sabha MPs are either seeking a safe seat or opting out.
But where others see a dismal future, the Congress still maintains the phenomenon of leaders switching sides is in keeping with election season.
"That the Congress is a sinking ship is a hype created by the BJP. During election times, many disgruntled individuals hop over to other parties to fulfill their own disgruntled individual ambitions. It is sheer political expediency or opportunism," Congress spokesperson CR Kesavan told CNN-IBN during a panel discussion on India at 9.
"The NDA is a nationally doomed alliance which is leaking and sinking. That is the reason Shiv Sena has decided to fight elections in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Its senior leader Jaswant Singh has been denied a ticket from where he wanted," he said.
Time to get new flags? Representational image. AFP
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Mittal, however, stuck to his party's line that the Congress was now reduced to shadow of what it was a decade ago.
"Jagan Reddy and Kiran Reddy indicate why Congress is a sinking ship. Their disastrous performance in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in 2012 where they lost 26 seats says it all. Major alliance partners Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress and DMK have all deserted the party," Mittal said.
The political atmosphere has been such that defectors from other parties are now flocking into the BJP. There is a high possibility that Janata Dal United Rajya Sabha MP NK Singh might also join the party over the weekend.
Singh defended his decision saying it was driven by the party's change in attitude after splitting from the BJP.
"There is a degree of discontentment in the JD(U). After the JD(U) broke up with the BJP, the focus has changed to development centric politics to survival centric politics. However, in June last year when the break up happened it was not perceived that the party's focus would change so drastically," said Singh.
He also denied that he was indulging in political opportunism by joining the BJP when he was as close to the Congress.
"In our pursuit to secure the special category status for Bihar I had to interact a lot with the Central government which is run by the Congress now. That brought me closer to the Congresss. But I had also worked closely with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as I was his secretary. I was also associated with the Planning Commission of which Vajpayee was the chairman," he said.
Political editor for CNN-IBN Pallavi Ghosh said that the Congress was going through a tough phase in the run up to the elections.
"Senior leader Jayanthi Natarajan refused to fight from Tamil Nadu. GK Vasan and P Chidambaram will also not fight. Former Punjab chief minister Amrinder Singh and Ambika Soni have been cajoled to contest. Soni has never fought electoral polls but remained a Rajya Sabha member throughout. Even Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mani Shankar Aiyar who are Rajya Sabha members have been asked to contest," she said.
So what is to blame for the sudden shift in attitude of the experienced leaders?
"Many senior leaders felt left out as well like Jagadambika Pal and Satpal Maharaj. While Sonia Gandhi kept the party together it is widely believed that a generational divide has crept into Rahul Gandhi's Congress. There is also a view that a coterie is forming around him leaving others high and dry," Ghosh said.
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