Strange bedfellows: It’s again a battle of turncoats, this time in the Delhi assembly elections

Turncoat politicians are no longer a liability. They are unalloyed assets. That the political scene in the Delhi assembly elections, allows for such more broad manoeuvres, is a barometer of extreme electoral flexibility.

Apparently, it suits everyone.

Take West Delhi’s Patel Nagar, one of the best-connected constituencies in the national capital. Veteran Congress politician and former minister Krishna Tirath, who is contesting on a Congress ticket had fought on a BJP ticket in 2015. Her principal rival this time, AAP’s Parvesh Ratan was a BJP candidate five years ago in 2020, who unsuccessfully fought against the then AAP man, Raaj Kumar Anand, who is now the BJP contestant.

Confused? This jigsaw puzzle needs to be taken into stride if the high-profile Delhi assembly elections are looked at closely. Of the three-cornered fights in the 70-strong Delhi assembly, AAP is the principal beneficiary of such largesse: it has given tickets to 22 candidates who have served time with either the Congress or the BJP.

Of them, some are legions. Surinderpal Singh Bittu quit the Congress to join BJP and is now fighting on an AAP ticket from Timarpur. The veteran from Matia Mahal, Shoaib Iqbal, has been part of the JD, JD(S), LJP, JD(U), Congress, and is now with AAP.

A string of former BJP members now have AAP tickets like Brahma Singh Tanwar, BB Tyagi, Jitender Singh Shunty and Ramesh Pehelwan, among others.

The BJP, whose high velocity campaign is being led by no less than prime minister Narendra Modi and the party’s who’s who in support roles, has 10 candidates who have swapped sides, many from AAP. Some high-profile ones include Kailash Gehlot, a former AAP minister, who is contesting from Bijwasan, as are Priyanka Gautam and Kartar Singh Tanwar.

During the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, then Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely had joined the BJP – not the first time he had left Congress. He is now the party candidate from Gandhi Nagar, as is BJP’s Mangolpuri candidate, Rajkumar Chauhan, a staunch Congressman, who had left his parent party for the BJP, only to return to the Congress after 8 months. In 2024, he flipped again , joiningthe BJP.

The Congress, which has nine turncoats given party tickets, is hardly a stranger when it comes to taking back defectors or loyalists. Former AAP MLA, Colonel Devinder Sehrawat is now contesting from Bijwasan on a Congress ticket. He has spent time with the BJP andShiv Senabefore joining the party in December last year.

Two Muslim candidates with Congress tickets, Asim Ahmed Khan and Abdul Rehman, have crossed over from the AAP, suggesting that the influential minority vote in the national capital could be split. Chaudhary Zubair Ahmed has returned the AAP compliment by leaving the Congress and joining the Arvind Kejriwal bandwagon to contest from Muslim-dominated Seelampur assembly constituency.

Predicts analyst Hussain Afsar: “The Muslim vote is certainly going to the Congress. AAP has failed to stand with the Muslims in Shaheen Bagh and on other issues, saying that law and order is not under them. Then why vote for AAP?”

In a three-cornered fight, that could mean that the BJP is going to gain, who despite a 30% vote share inDelhi, has not been able to translate it into seats. The other spectre in such a tight race is a hung assembly.

For the political turncoats then, it could mean immediate re-evaluation of their goals.