They are the “jumpers” as actor Pawan Kalyan puts it during the launch of his Jana Sena Party last week. Call them the “aaya ram, gaya ram brigade” or politicians simply looking at greener grass.
Many leaders these days are changing parties and ideologies as if there is no tomorrow. Needless to say, this has left voters dizzy as if one were watching a tennis rally.
A case in point: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah was at his vocal best during a live interview on a regional TV channel the other day. Mr. Lakshmaiah thundered that no leader would leave the Telangana Congress and the spree of desertions would end forthwith. Mind you, within hours, Konda Surekha along with her husband Konda Murali jumped to TRS, deserting the Congress. Who’s bluffing whom?
So much so that revolutionary poet P. Varavara Rao was left wondering as to how people, who hurled stones at Mrs. Surekha at Mahbubabad, were now garlanding her and she, in turn, was presenting bouquets to the TRS chief. The fast changing political equations have, no doubt, left him bewildered.
As they say, in politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies. But this party-hopping has left the voters utterly confused. Vexed with the ‘jumpers’ and fence-sitters, G. Vijayalakshmi, a housewife, says she is totally clueless about which candidate is contesting on which party ticket. “I am also confused as to whom to vote for,” she says.
In fact, the rate at which the leaders are crossing over could give complex to sprinters.
“It’s a tragedy that we have to live in these times of heavy politicking. With the leaders going the whole hog to taste power, the voter is more confused than ever,” a senior political analyst reasoned.
