As Congress’s former Varanasi MP joins BJP, why losing him may hurt the party

Rajesh Mishra is said to have been upset with the Congress since last year because it chose Ajay Rai, another east UP leader, to head the state unit.

Written by Asad Rehman

Lucknow | March 7, 2024 12:13 PM IST

3 min read

Rajesh Mishra joins the BJP (UP BJP)

Former Varanasi MP Rajesh Mishra’s decision to quit the Congress and join the BJP earlier this week comes as a blow to the Opposition party that is trying to effect a turnaround in Uttar Pradesh in the coming Lok Sabha elections. The party is expected to feel Mishra’s loss in east UP.

After switching to the BJP on Tuesday, the 62-year-old called out his former party for allegedly disrespecting him. “I did not want a ticket or any post. The only thing I wanted was respect, which is important in politics. I joined the BJP as I find the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to uplift the country commendable. There is no match for Modiji,” Mishra told The Indian Express. He is said to have been upset with the Congress since last year because it chose Ajay Rai, another east UP leader, to head the state unit.

Mishra started his political career as a student leader in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in the 1980s. In 1984, he was slated to contest the student union polls but could not as the union was dissolved and elections were halted for the next 10 years. In 1986, he was elected MLC as an Independent and joined the Congress the following year.

Also Read | Lok Sabha polls: In BJP’s first list of 195, Modi to contest again from Varanasi, Amit Shah from Gandhinagar

Mishra’s big political move came in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections when he defeated three-time BJP MP Shankar Prasad Jaiswal from Varanasi, a seat the BJP had won four consecutive times till then. But five years later he lost the constituency, ending a distant fourth behind former BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi, then BSP leader Mukhtar Ansari, and Rai who was then in the Samajwadi Party (SP). In 2014, the Congress denied him a ticket from Varanasi and fielded Rai against Modi.

Some Congress leaders in east UP said his departure would affect the INDIA bloc in the region, especially in Varanasi, Chandauli, Mirzapur, and Ghazipur Lok Sabha seats, where Mishra is said to have an influence among youth, students, and the upper castes. “It is sad that the party lost a veteran leader but what can we do? He left due to his ambition,” said a Congress leader from Varanasi.

Asked if he was looking for another seat to contest in the Lok Sabha polls, Mishra said, “There is some speculation that I may contest from Bhadohi as I had expressed interest to contest from there when I was in the Congress. However, there have been no discussions with the BJP leadership about any seat. I have left the decision to the party leadership,” he said.

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More

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