NEW DELHI: An oft-heard remark by BJP leaders these days is that their party is like the holy Ganges and anybody who takes a dip (read: joins the party) is “purified” of all his past omissions and commissions, crimes and wrongdoings.Under BJP chief Amit Shah, the party has aggressively poached disgruntled leaders of some standing from rival political parties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have described main political adversary Congress as “termite” that should be eradicated, but most of those who have jumped ship in the past few months have been from the grand old party. In the process to adopt these leaders, BJP has not been deterred by the questionable credentials of some of them. Trinamool leader Mukul Roy , facing charges in the Sarada chit fund scam and the Narada sting operation where some leaders were caught on camera accepting cash, is the latest catch of the BJP. Though there were some dissenting voices within the BJP Bengal unit over inducting Roy into the party, the central leadership prevailed over them.This development has come close on the heels of Congress leader Narayan Rane joining the NDA in Maharashtra. Rane too has a dubious past that includes charges of running a gang. The Konkan strongman, however, could not join the BJP as the Maharashtra unit, including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis if party sources are to be believed had objections to his donning saffron colours. His Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh is now a part of the NDA.In Himachal Pradesh, tainted Congress leader Sukhram and his son Anil Sharma were inducted into BJP and Sharma fielded as a candidate from Mandi constituency within days in the ensuing Assembly polls. BJP has been quick to reward the newcomers.While Sharma got a ticket to contest, Rane is set to join the Fadnavis cabinet despite all opposition from Maharashtra BJP. There are reports that CBI may go soft on Roy now and this was a part of the deal for his switching over from Trinamool (that he was increasingly getting marginalised in his party was also a big factor). Roy has already been given Y+ security cover within two days of joining BJP.That there are cases pending against these Congress leaders has not deterred the BJP leadership. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted: “BJP is really promoting Swacch Bharat as the powerful detergent party- ziddi mail saaf.” However, BJP poaching Congress leaders is not a recent practice.Himanta Biswa Sarma was perhaps the biggest Congress leader that landed in the BJP net. Sensing an opportunity after Sarma failed to get a hearing from Rahul Gandhi who reportedly preferred feeding his dog Pidi and paid little attention to the Assam leader-BJP brought him under its wings. Sarma was sidelined by Congress leader Tarun Gogoi who wanted to promote his son Gaurav over him. Now holding key portfolios of Finance, Health and education in Assam, Sarma is helping BJP spread its political footprint in other states of the Northeast.In Uttar Pradesh, two cabinet ministers Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Nand Gopal Nandi- were with the Congress before joining BJP.Similarly, in Uttarakhand, four of the seven cabinet ministers were earlier with the Congress. These are Satpal Maharaj, Harak Singh Rawat, Yashpal Arya and Subodh Uniyal. Rekha Arya, who is minister of state, was also a Congress leader before joining BJP. In Karnataka, BJP has got former External Affairs Minister S M Krishna into its fold. The Vokkaliga leader was a Congress leader throughout his political career but joined the BJP in March this year. While BJP state units are opposed to such inductions from rival parties, the central leadership has overruled them. The local leaders lose their space to these Congress leaders whom they were slamming till just the other day.