Former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the BJP. The Chairman of the AAP’s Manifesto Committee told Times Now that he doesn’t want to waste time amidst the infighting in a party which is “not a main player”.
Bhaskar Rao was reportedly unhappy about the poor progress the AAP was making in Karnataka ahead of the Assembly polls. The party was not doing enough to garner enough momentum in order to challenge the BJP, Congress or JD(S), Rao felt.
Earlier on Tuesday, sources close to Bhaskar Rao had told the media that he is likely to join the saffron camp in the poll-bound southern state after quitting the AAP.
The AAP’s state and national leadership are yet to react to Rao’s comments. However, a state-level leader of the party said that it is unfair from Rao’s end to expect the AAP to make major changes immediately to meet the demands of a recent entrant. The AAP wishes Bhaskar Rao the best, he added.
The former IPS officer reportedly met Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka for discussions. He is also said to have met Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai, a former IPS officer and party’s co-in-charge for Karnataka polls, and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi.
Rao, who resigned from the IPS, had joined AAP in April last year, was recently appointed as the party’s Manifesto Committee’s Chairman and had emerged as one of the prominent faces of the party in the state.
He was reportedly rumoured to be AAP’s candidate from the Basavanagudi constituency.
According to the news agency PTI, Rao was not on good terms with certain state leaders of Arvind Kejriwal’s party and was unhappy about the recent organisational changes.
