Brajesh Pathak joining BJP is a fine display of political opportunism
When ex BSP MP Brajesh Pathak entered room number 40 of the BJP national headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road, at around 4:30pm, there was a stunned look of disbelief on the faces of at least three-four TV journalists.
These mediapersons, representing various national news channels, had been arguing for the last half hour on how there was no chance on earth that Brajesh Pathak, the eminent personality in the news today, according to the SMS alert sent out by the party earlier, was going to join the party.
The journalists kept on insisting that this person, who was going to join the BJP as per the SMS alert, was some "other Brajesh". These TV journalists had valid reasons to be sceptical. Just 24 hours before, these reporters were in Agra, where the BSP supremo Mayawati was holding her first major rally and blowing the bugle of 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. One of the most familiar faces in that particular BSP rally was of Brajesh Pathak.
His involvement (or a skilfully rendered pretence, as it is now turning out to be) in making the rally a big success was complete. He had called several bureau chiefs of various news channels to enquire about the reporters who were going to cover the rally, apart from requesting good coverage.
He took phone numbers of the concerned reporters, got in touch with them and arranged for their food and water requirements during the rally. Brajesh Pathak was every inch the dedicated BSP MP and worker at that point, diligently looking after the interests of his party.
Even for a while, for a lot of those who cover the Parliament beat, Brajesh Pathak was a regular fixture at gate number 12, where he, along with few other worthies, would wait for Behenji's car to arrive. Once her Ambassador car would get in, they would rush forward to open the door and bend to touch her feet.
If there was one place in the biggest temple of democracy, where political subservience was at its crudest display, it was here at this gate. Brajesh Pathak was one of the star exponents of that pathetic but pervasive culture of political ingratiation.
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| Brajesh Pathak (extreme right) with Amit Shah and Mahesh Sharma at BJP national headquarters on Monday, August 22, 2016. [Photo: Agencies] |
Today, when he entered the room, he had a slightly embarrassed look. Pathak was inducted by Union culture minister, Mahesh Sharma, and then he perfunctorily expressed his faith in the vision and the path of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said how he would be a dedicated worker of the BJP and help the party to take Uttar Pradesh to newer heights.
When reporters asked him about his political volte-face and how was it that just 24 hours before he was a loyal soldier of Mayawati, only to join hands with the BJP, he had a ready and rehearsed answer.
"This shows that whatever work I do, I do it with passion. The fact that even 24 hours before quitting the BSP I was working my level best for the party, shows how sincere I am."
When reporters countered him with another question, Mahesh Sharma jumped to his defence and delivered a two-minute-long speech on how Brajesh Pathak was a "valuable asset" and how the BJP would now change the future of UP.
As this reporter stopped him for a small interview ("TT" in TV parlance), while he was being taken away to another room, and asked him what were the reason which forced him to leave the BSP, he said he would send me an email.
I asked him again: "Wouldn't you call it 'political opportunism' at best?"
He replied with the same practiced tone: "I will send you a mail."
When I pressed it for the third time, he looked a little miffed. "Don't you change your job? The same way I have changed the party", he said.
Before I could protest that the two are not the same and cannot be compared, Brajesh Pathak, member of the BJP, was gone. When I expressed my dissatisfaction with his answer, his man Friday whispered into my ears: "Well, you weren't exactly asking him friendly questions!"
However, many in the party believe that in an election where Brahmins are being assiduously wooed, BJP's snatching away of Pathak is a good catch. The fact that Pathak, who along with Satish Chandra Mishra, was the Brahmin mascot of the BSP, adds to the worries of Mayawati.
Apart from this, a string of grassroots leaders with mass appeal deserting the BSP is not helping the party win the perception war.
Moreover, with the BJP claiming most of the catches among leaders jettisoning the BSP, it looks like a more twisted game is afoot now.
They say that politics is the art of the impossible. Well, you don't need to tell me. I have seen it happening today.