On Sunday, prominent Akali Dal leaders Sardar Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal and Sardar Jasjeet Singh Atwal joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi. They were formally welcomed into the saffron camp on Sunday at the party’s national headquarters in the Capital, in the presence of senior BJP leaders. Furthermore, AIADMK politician and former Rajya Sabha member Dr. Maitreyan would join the BJP on Sunday, according to BJP sources.
Earlier on Saturday, CR Kesavan, the great-grandson of C Rajagopalachari, India’s first Indian Governor-General, joined the BJP. Kesavan resigned from Congress on February 23, claiming that he had not seen any remains of the beliefs that had motivated him to fight for the party for over two decades.
On Twitter, Kesavan announced his resignation letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, stating that he could no longer agree with “what the party symbolises, stands for or seeks to propagate”. His departure occurred less than a month after former Union minister AK Antony’s son, Anil Antony, left the party after supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the contentious BBC documentary series.
On April 6, Anil Antony joined the BJP in the presence of Government Ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan. Kerala BJP chief K Surendran, as well as senior party leaders Tarun Chugh and Anil Baluni, were in attendance. Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had already joined the BJP in the national capital.
At a celebration held at the party headquarters, Reddy, the last chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Prahlad Joshi, general secretary Arun Singh, and MP K Laxman.
Reddy was elected chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on November 11, 2010, but resigned on March 10, 2014, in protest over the Congress party’s decision to divide the state. The developments come ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year.
