Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of Congress veteran and former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran is likely to quit Congress and join BJP, according to sources.
In Short
- Padmaja Venugopal likely to quit Congress and join BJP
- Padmaja deleted Facebook post dismissing reports suggesting her switching sides
- Her brother, K Muraleedharan, says her switch would not benefit BJP even an ounce.
Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of late Congress stalwart and former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran, is likely to quit Congress and join BJP, according to sources.
The speculation gained traction on Wednesday after Padmaja deleted a Facebook post dismissing reports suggesting her switching sides. Padmaja, about her potential move to the BJP, initially clarified that it was merely a joke but later removed the post, intensifying the speculation.
Meanwhile, her brother, and party MP K Muraleedharan on Thursday said that her decision was a betrayal and would not benefit the BJP even an ounce.
Muraleedharan said that their father, Karunakaran, had never compromised with communalism and for a member of his family to join the BJP was a sad outcome as far as people with a secular mindset were concerned.
“However, taking Padmaja will not benefit the BJP even an ounce. It will also not affect our determination to fight. We will push the BJP to third spot everywhere, including in seats where they hope to win. This betrayal would be answered through the EVMs,” the Congress MP said.
Padmaja was reportedly upset with the leadership sidelining her. She had contested from Thrissur constituency during the last Assembly election and lost to the left front.
“Padmaja was thrice given the party ticket to contest polls in Kerala and each time she had lost,” Muraleedharan said.
“So, the claims that others in the party were behind her defeat were not acceptable as there are many who have tried to do that to me. I have not complained about it because it is the people who decide who should win or not,” he said.
He further said that there was a time when he had to leave the party, but even then he did not compromise with the BJP and join it, even though it would have been very easy to do so, as his father was someone who never compromised with communalism.
Padmaja Venugopal’s entry would be a major boost to the BJP in the state, ahead of the April-May Lok Sabha elections.
This Article Was Published On India Today.
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