Will reinduction of turncoats into TMC go well for the party? Only time will tell

The trend of reverse migration continues in Bengal politics. Before the State Legislative Assembly polls four months ago, there was a mad rush among the Trinamool Congress leaders and supporters to switch camps and join the saffron brigade. However, their calculations had gone wrong and Mamata Banerjee's party retained its bastion with a stronger majority. It's time for reverse migration or reverse flow now.

Almost on a daily basis BJP leaders and supporters- from the Panchayat level to the state level are deserting the party and joining the Trinamool Congress. They include faces that had left TMC before the polls and had joined BJP and some fresh faces from the Saffron camp as well. There have also been faces who are leaving the Indian National Congress and joining the TMC. The former Union Minister and BJP's MP from Asansol- Babul Supriyo has been the latest to join the bandwagon. The two-time Union Minister and Bengal BJP's celebrity face had earlier been asked by the party top-brass to quit the ministry and continue as an ordinary MP. Interestingly, Babul had fought the state polls and lost to the high profile TMC minister Arup Biswas by more than 50,000 votes.

Babul is not certainly going to be the last turncoat from the BJP's side. The waiting list is fairly long. All these developments, apparently augur well for the Trinamool Congress, aptly considered to be the strongest and the most serious challenger to Mo-Shah' leadership nationally. The TMC leadership, therefore is understandably happy, not complaining and drinking life (read situation) to the lees.

However, there are serious apprehensions over if the TMC leadership is making the same mistake that the BJP leadership had made before the polls - by indiscriminately welcoming turncoats from the opponent's camp! This had severely hurt the sentiments of the party's old war horses and party rank and file who had stood beside the party in all odds. And now the reverse process will certainly annoy and antagonize a section within the TMC. How large that segment will be - only time will tell. The success of breaking the political opponent and reducing them to almost nil might pamper the egos of the party leadership, but if these migratory birds would make any significant value additions is seriously questionable.

Having said all these, one must keep in mind that there is a fundamental difference between the pre-poll and post-poll scenarios. In the pre-poll scenario, there was hardly any time left and the negative impact was felt (and suffered) by the BJP almost instantaneously. However, now, in the post-poll scenario, it's still five long years to go for the next state assembly polls and much water will flow through the river during this time. And surely, the TMC leadership will get a much longer time to appease both the disgruntled elements within the party and the newcomers. It will get enough time to get the reverse flows mingled into its stream.

Mind you that worshipping the God or the most venerable as an enemy has been well established and recognised even in our religious scriptures and epics! Are some politicians taking a tip or two from those?