Will he, won't he?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has mastered the art of media management like few other. For over four days now, the BJP central office at 11, Ashoka Road, in New Delhi has been abuzz with the news of a prominent Congress leader joining the party. The Congress leader is a known Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist from Madhya Pradesh. If he were to join the BJP, it will not just be a huge loss to the Congress party but also another dent to the leadership of its vice-president Rahul Gandhi. While the news has left the Congress leadership worried, it has also led to nervousness among BJP’s Madhya Pradesh leadership. There is already talk of some of the prominent chief ministers of BJP-ruled states likely to be called to the Centre to be part of the Union cabinet. Some other Congress leaders have joined the BJP in the last few days, including its Delhi leaders Arvinder Singh Lovely and Barkha Shukla Singh, but the man in question has remained tight-lipped, neither confirming nor denying rumours.