Mumbai: With just a couple of months left to go before the state assembly polls, it is also the onset of the silly season, marked by emergence of political absurdities.
The ongoing exodus of leaders and workers from the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party to the Bharatiya Janata Party has left even the high and mighty in a tizzy.
Critics have slammed the BJP for poaching leaders from other parties and, out of the blue, cryptic banners have appeared in Pune, Nagpur, Amravati and elsewhere, proclaiming to the world, 'BJP IS RECRUITING'.
The banner lists the following terms and conditions for getting into the BJP:
• Priority for those who have received ED and I-T notices
• First preference for those with experience in corruption
• Those with experience in dissolving co-operatives.
Further, the banner says, "No conditions on ideology and if there are no seats left in the party, the aspirant will get a place in our alliance party." Interestingly, there is a toll-free number – 8980808080 -- for those seeking details of the recruitment overdrive.
Some amount of ingenuity has gone into the banners which are designed like advertisements seeking school or university enrolments.
However, it is still not clear whether these banners are the handiwork of the opposition or disgruntled members of the BJP who are doing so because all this party-hopping may prove detrimental to their electoral prospects.
One such banner has been put in the main chowk of Shiroda Naka in Vengurla district.
In Nagpur, the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, a similar banner has appeared, at a prominent place in south Nagpur as well as in Pune and Amravati.
In Amravati, the banner was seen at a prominent location in Rajkamal Chowk, sparking speculation.
