New Delhi: Former Congress leader A.P. Abdullakutty, who was expelled from the party for lavishly praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday joined the BJP. In 2009, he was expelled from the CPI(M) for the same reason when Mr Modi was chief minister of Gujarat. Calling himself a “national Muslim”, Mr Abdullakutty, after joining the saffron fold, said while BJP’s opponents had unleashed a propaganda against it, the fact is that “Muslims are 100 per cent safe” under Mr Modi and the BJP regime. Mr Abdullakutty had met Mr Modi and BJP president Amit Shah earlier this week.
Another leader who joined the saffron fold was INLD’s lone Rajya Sabha member Ramkumar Kashyap after which the ruling party’s strength in the Upper House of Parliament has increased to 76. Both Mr Abdulla-kutty and Mr Kashyap said that the Modi-led NDA development plank was the main reason that they have joined the saffron fold.
Both Mr Abdullakutty and Mr Kashyap joined the BJP in presence of party working president J.P. Nadda, general secretary Bhupendra Yadav and MoS for parliamentary affairs V. Murleedharan.
In Haryana, the Assembly elections are lined up by the end of this year and the Om Prakash Chautala-led INLD has been facing major exodus ever since its vertical split. Three of its sitting MLAs have joined the BJP since March this year and Mr Kashyap is another prominent leader of the regional satrap who has joined the saffron party.
A two time MP from Kannur when he was in the CPI(M), Mr Abdullakutty represented Kannur in the Kerala Assembly after joining the Congress in 2009.
Kannur also happens to be the epicentre of violent scuffles between the ruling CPI(M) and the Sangh Parivar cadre.
