Amid continued infighting in its Punjab and Rajasthan units, the Congress suffered a major jolt on Wednesday as it lost Jitin Prasada, a prominent young face from Uttar Pradesh, to the BJP. Walking in the footsteps of his father Jitender Prasada, who contested against Sonia Gandhi for the post of Congress President in 1999, Jitin raised a banner of revolt against his party, quitting ahead of the crucial 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections. Jitin was part of the group of 23 leaders who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi last October seeking organisational overhaul and elections at all levels. Reports of the 47-year-old Jitin planning to quit the Congress and joining the BJP first came to light in March 2019 ahead of Lok Sabha elections when top party leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra talked him out of defection and held him back.
Ruling out leadership change, Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel on Friday asserted that Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is a unanimous leader and will complete the term, as he instructed party legislators not to indulge in any activities other than COVID-19 management. He also ruled out any immediate possibility of holding a legislature party meeting, due to COVID, and said an explanation will be sought from Tourism Minister C P Yogeeshwara about his open expression of disgruntlement. There is no change, Yediyurappa is our unanimous leader. The centre (central leadership) has already made it clear that there is no change, there is no such discussion.. it is not the subject of discussion in the party, Kateel said.