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C R Kesavan, the great-grandson of freedom fighter C Rajagopalachari, on Saturday became the latest defector to the BJP from a prominent Congress family.
A veteran Congress leader and writer, who served as chief minister of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, Rajagopalachari was the last Governor General of India before the country became a Republic.
Kesavan follows on the heels of Anil Antony, the son of veteran Congress leader from Kerala and long-time Gandhi family loyalist A K Antony, who just days ago joined the BJP.
In a sign of the symbolism of the defections, despite the fact that both Kesavan and Anil are low-profile leaders, the two were welcomed into the BJP at its Delhi headquarters.
An articulate speaker who worked abroad for a while, Kesavan announced his exit from the Congress on February 23. In his resignation letter, Kesavan said it was no more the party he had joined 22 years ago.
“Leaving behind a successful career abroad, I returned to India to serve our nation. Driven by an ideology that was all inclusive and committed to the goal of incremental national transformation, I joined the Congress party in 2001,” Kesavan wrote, adding that while his journey since had been “challenging and engaging”, he was “truly sad to” see the disappearance of “any vestiges of values that made me work for the party with dedication for over two decades”.
“I can no longer in good conscience say that I concur with what the party presently symbolises, stands for nor seeks to propagate. This is why I had recently declined an organisational responsibility at the national level and also refrained from participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra,” Kesavan said.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, the son of veteran Congress leader P Chidamabaram, had expressed his disappointment at Kesavan’s resignation, tweeting: “It’s always sad to see someone leave the party. INC is not addressing collective & individual concerns is perhaps a precipitating factor.”
After he joined the Congress in 2001, Kesavan held posts such as Vice-President of the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development; Member of the Prasar Bharati Board; National Council Member of the Indian Youth Congress; and National Media Panelist, a role that made him a familiar face on English news channels.
However, electorally, Kesavan never inspired much confidence within the Tamil Nadu party unit. A top source in the Congress said there had been requests for Kesavan to be fielded from South Chennai in the 2019 elections. “But Khushbu Sundar was our priority candidate. And then we didn’t get that seat as our ally DMK chose to contest from there. Otherwise, I can’t recall any instance of considering Kesavan for any position,” the leader said.
Other senior Congress leaders refused to talk about Kesavan joining the BJP. “There are issues in the party like in any other organisation. But truthfully, there is nothing I have to say about Kesavan’s work in the party here,” one leader said.
Another leader suggested that Kesavan did not have any deep ideological commitment to the Congress. “Some people just want relevance, and it’s not like they don’t put in efforts for the same. But like professionals, they are ever prepared to switch sides, free of the weight of ideological commitment,” he said.
Among the first to welcome Keshavan into the BJP was Khushbu, who joined the BJP in 2021 after spending time in the DMK and Congress. “Better late than never! The great-grandson of Rajaji quit CONgress. He says that he is unable to see or feel any vestiges of the ‘values’ in Congress anymore that made him work for the party for over two decades. Good luck my friend in all your future endeavors,” she tweeted.
