Bengaluru: Last week, rebel Congress MLA from Chincholi, Umesh Jadhav bid goodbye to his party and joined the BJP. For a long, long time, there were talks that several disgruntled Congress members would shift loyalties to the BJP, owing to the alleged step-motherly treatment by the Karnataka Congress. That Jadhav openly resented against the party and joined the BJP was only testimony to the fact that all is not well within the Congress.

Though talks that leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was manipulating situations to provide a politically conducive atmosphere abounded, there was no official confirmation about it.

Now, in what comes as a tangible proof, none other than Jadhav himself has termed Kalaburagi Congress as a ‘private limited’. This is a direct allegation on Kharge and how he has resorted to nepotism with a view to bringing his son Priyank Kharge to prominence.

Congress, as a party in general, has always been cornered for its ‘blood is thicker than water’ politics. Right from the topmost rung in the hierarchy, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to Siddaramaiah’s son Yatheendra, many feel dynasty politics rules the roost.

Back to the issue of Jadhav, the MLA has further reiterated that he has not been “bought” by the BJP. He maintains that he quit out of his own volition and financial enticements had little to do with it.

On the issue of his dishonouring the whip issued by the Congress during the Karnataka Budget session and whether the Speaker Ramesh Kumar would disqualify him, Jadhav said he had done nothing wrong, and that the Speaker would take a decision based on the principles of natural justice.

After joining the BJP, Jadhav hopes to get a ticket from the BJP to contest the Kalaburagi Lok Sabha poll against senior Kharge. If the BJP does field him against a seasoned Kharge, and Jadhav will be able to pull off a stunner, it will be nothing short of a political coup.