Congress Leader Rapolu Ananda Bhaskar Joins BJP

Former Congress leader Rapolu Ananda Bhaskar, a former Rajya Sabha member of Warangal district, today joined the BJP in Delhi.

Union Health Minister J P Nadda welcomed him with a BJP shawl and appreciated him for joining the party.

Bhaskar also met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Speaking to the media later, Bhaskar gave the reasons that he had joined the BJP after a 25-year stint in the Congress.

"I had to join the BJP as there were no ideological clarity and no priority to Telangana issues in the Congress," he said. "After 15 days of brainstorming, I took the decision to join the BJP."

He added, "National integrity and the self-respect of Telangana were the key issues that prompted me to switch loyalties. The BJP government has agreed to address these issues. I will work vigorously for Telangana's development, and for the welfare of the handloom workers, in the new party."

Rapolu had resigned from the Congress last month. Another senior Congress leader D K Aruna has also joined the BJP, and is in the electoral fray for the Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha seat.

TPCC secretary Allam Bhaskar and other leaders strongly criticized Bhaskar for leaving the party despite all the positions, respect and perks he had gotten. They said that he had been drawing Rs 35,000 per month for looking after day-to-day routine work in the PCC office as its general secretary. And prior to that, to encourage activists for the Backward Classes, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had nominated him as a member of the Rajya Sabha from united Andhra Pradesh. But after enjoying the fruits of being in the party when it was in power, Bhaskar had revealed his real character by blaming the party leadership for not respecting his sentiments.

"No one can appreciate this type of treachery. Bhaskar acted like Brutus in the William Shakespeare play," they said.