C Rajagopalachari's great grandson CR Kesavan joins BJP

He resigned from Congress citing that he could not find a place for himself in what the party presently symbolises, stands or seeks to propagate.

New Delhi:CR Kesavan, the great-grandson of India's first Indian Governor-General, C Rajagopalachari and ex-Congress spokesperson joined BJP on Friday. The former Congress leader had resigned from the grand old party in February.

After he joined the saffron party, Kesavan thanked the BJP for inducting him into the world's largest political party on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Tamil Nadu. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's people-centric policies, corruption-free governance and reform-led inclusive development agenda have transformed India from a fragile economy to the fifth-largest economy in the world.

Continuing with his BJP praise he said that he knows people from his place who have got 'pucca' houses through Prime Minister Awas Yojana. Three crore houses have been built under the Awas Yojana, he said. Union Minister Amit Shah has earlier coined the phrase 'Dealer Broker Transfer' for DBT but now under the BJP rule, it has now become 'Direct Benefit Transfer'.

Kesavan shared the draft of his resignation letter on Twitter when he parted ways from the Congress. Stating the reason behind his quitting Congress he said that he has not seen any 'vestiges of the values' that made him work for the party for over two decades. Kesavan asserted that he did not concur with what the party presently symbolises, stands or seeks to propagate.

He also mentioned that this was the reason why he had declined an organisational responsibility that was given to him at the national level. He had also stayed away from the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra. CR Kesavan is the latest among the ex-Congress leaders who have joined the saffron party.

Earlier on Friday, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy joined the BJP at the national capital. In a press conference after his induction, the ex-Congress politician said that he had never expected that he would be leaving the Congress.

In a bitter attack against the Congress 'high command' Reddy said that the Congress leadership do not interact with people, do not take their opinions and are disconnected from the ground realities.

On Thursday, Anil Antony, son of former Defence Minister AK Antony, got inducted into the BJP. Anil had resigned from Congress following his criticism of the BBC docuseries against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat during the 2002 Godhra riots. Antony had said that he decided to resign from the grand old party following “intolerant calls to retract a tweet by those fighting for free speech”.