What happened to the big leaders after the merger with the big party? Story from Udit to Amarinder

Big fishes swallow the small fishes of the pond. The English proverb ‘Big fish eats small fish’ is a saying which is widely used in politics. Be that as it may, big political parties often make all efforts to include small political parties in their fold. These days, politics in Indian politics is swinging around political parties, first is Bharatiya Janata Party, second is Congress.

Congress remained in power immediately after independence, Bharatiya Janata Party itself started from 6 April 1980. Bharatiya Janata Party is a 46 year old party, Congress was established on 28 December 1885. Congress is a 141 year old party. Both the parties are two poles of Indian politics, one can be called North, the other South.

Both the political parties have merged many political parties that were part of their allies. For merger, all the policies of same-price-punishment-discrimination have been adopted. From Bihar to West Bengal, such experiments by political parties are not new. Be it BJP or Congress, both the parties do not hesitate in merging smaller parties.

Also read: ‘If Sayoni Ghosh can go then who can be trusted…’, what did Mahua Moitra say on TMC crisis?

TMC’s merger with Congress, why the exercise on rejection?

When assembly elections were held in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress suffered a crushing defeat. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, which had a huge majority, was limited to only 80 seats. The surprising thing was that Mamata Banerjee got a big blow under the leadership of Ritabrata Banerjee, 60 MLAs formed a separate faction.

Mamata Banerjee’s original Trinamool Congress has less than 20 MLAs, TMC has more than 20 MPs, now supporting the BJP-led NDA government. On June 8, 2026, a meeting was held in New Delhi led by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, in which it was claimed that Trinamool Congress would merge with Congress.

Both the political parties are similar at the level of ideology but are staunch enemies in Bengal. On January 1, 1998, Mamata Banerjee separated from the Congress and laid the foundation of Trinamool Congress, this foundation has now weakened. The leaders whom Mamata Banerjee considered her own have either joined BJP or are trying to join them.

Also read: ‘The real TMC group is ours, only we should get recognition’, what else did the rebel MP say?

Upendra Kushwaha yearns for merger exercise in Legislative Council

Upendra Kushwaha is the national president of Rashtriya Lok Manch. His son Deepak Prakash is the Panchayati Raj Minister in the Government of Bihar. Legislative Council elections are going to be held on June 18, 9 NDA candidates have filed nominations but Deepak Prakash’s name is not included. He is neither a member of the Legislative Assembly nor of the Legislative Council. To remain on the post of a minister, it is mandatory to become a member of one of the houses within 6 months. BJP did not agree to send Deepak to the Legislative Council.

The biggest reason for Deepak Prakash not getting a share in the Legislative Council is being said that BJP wanted Upendra Kushwaha to merge his party Rashtriya Lok Manch with BJP. When he was not ready for merger, BJP gave a shock. Upendra Kushwaha is a big leader of Kushwaha community in BJP, this time 4 of his MLAs have won. His son’s political future seems to be hanging in the balance.

He has formed the party thrice so far. In the year 2009, he merged Rashtriya Samata Party with JDU. Samrat Chaudhary also belonged to this party. In 2021, he merged Rashtriya Loksamta Party with JDU. There was a rift after the merger. In February 2023, he formed a new party in the name of Rashtriya Lok Morcha. Now a section is saying, BJP wants merger.

Also read: Revolt, resignation and merger discussed; Political earthquake in TMC within 48 hours

JAP merged with Congress, yet Pappu Yadav could not become a Congressman

Purnia MP Pappu Yadav merged his party with Congress on 20 March 2024, just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Priyanka Gandhi welcomed him into the party, promising that he would be given the Purnia seat. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Yadav and his son Tejashwi Yadav did not agree to this decision of Congress. He fielded his candidate from Purnia. Pappu Yadav won the election as an independent. From then till now, he seemed desperate to join Congress but neither Rahul Gandhi nor Priyanka Gandhi gave him any interest. He calls himself a staunch leader of the Congress but the problem is that the top leadership of the party does not accept him as their own.

Also read: TMC did not get interim relief against Speaker’s decision, next hearing on June 16

Captain Amarinder, neither God nor Visal-e-Sanam was found

Captain Amarinder was a friend of Rajiv Gandhi. Staunch Congressman. During the 1980s, when the Sikh community was very angry with the Congress, he still remained in the Congress. Congress gave him many opportunities. He also continued to become the Chief Minister but then Navjot Singh Sidhu became a Congressman in Punjab. On 15 January 2017, he left BJP and officially joined Congress. In 2017, Captain Amarind Singh became the Chief Minister of Punjab with an overwhelming majority, he had a strong government in the state but due to Sidhu, problems started increasing. Navjot Sidhu created so much discord that he had to resign on 18 September 2021.

After resignation, Captain Amarinder formed his new party ‘Punjab Lok Congress’ on 2 November 2021. He entered the electoral fray in alliance with the same BJP against whom he was fighting for decades. He also lost his seat in 2022, BJP’s deposit was also confiscated. BJP could win only 2 seats. On 19 September 2022, he came to New Delhi and merged his party. Once again in the 8th decade of his life, Captain Amarinder is angry with BJP. He did not like making Keval Singh Dhillon the Punjab President of BJP. Now it is being said that BJP is not in favor of giving them price.

Also read: ‘Official letter’ of rebellion in TMC has arrived, signed by 19 MPs including Sayoni Ghosh

Udit Raj, the leader with crores of supporters, where is he now?

Udit Raj used to claim that he had crores of supporters. He used to call himself the leader of Bahujans. He also had his own political party. Indian Justice Party. On 24 February 2014, he merged his political parties in the presence of the then BJP President Rajnath Singh. In 2014, he was fielded from North West Delhi and was a BJP MP. In 2019, BJP fielded singer Hans Raj Hans by canceling his ticket. This thing upset Udit Raj, he joined Congress. Udit Raj is the national president of Unorganized Workers and Employees Congress (KKC).