‘Hurt’ by Cong’s Pulwama stand, Vadakkan quits

NEWDELHI: Congress leader Tom Vadakkan on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing his former party of questioning the integrity of armed forces.

“If some political party takes a position against the country, then I do not have an option but to leave that party…this is not right,” he said, citing the Congress’s stance on Balakot air strike against a camp of terror group Jaish-e-mohammed (JEM) in Pakistan that followed the Pulwama suicide bombing.

“I believe in the Prime Minister’s development,” the former Congress spokesperson said, stressing that he was grateful of BJP president Amit Shah “who has trusted me and accepted my membership to the party”.

“I am also thankful to the Prime Minister who has wished me good luck,” he said.

“I left Congress party because when Pakistani t errorists attacked our land, my party’s reaction to it was sad… It hurt me deeply when you question the integrity of the armed forces and that is precisely the reason I am here,” Vadakkan said.

Tom Vadakkan, once considered close to Vincent George, a long time aide of Sonia Gandhi, had been associated with the party’s media department for nearly two decades, many of them under leaders such as Pranab Mukherjee and VN Gadgil. Vadakkan was the Congress spokesperson and a familiar face on television. In recent years, a Congress leader said, the prominence of other spokespersons such as Pawan Khera, Jaiveer Singh and Priyanka Chaturvedi had riled him. NEWDELHI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Arjun Singh Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Singh joined the BJP in presence of party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and West Bengal BJP leader Mukul Roy here.

Addressing the media, Singh said he was shocked at TMC chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s comments on the Pulwama terror attack. “I was shocked at her comments on the Pulwama terror attack.

The four-time MLA is likely to contest on a

BJP ticket in the Lok Sabha polls.

Vadakkan was lately reported to have been interested in contesting elections. Back in 2014, Vadakkan did make it to the shortlist of candidates from Thrissur but the Congress had to drop him after resistance from local workers.

Reacting to Vadakkan’s exit, party leader Rajmohan Unnithan in Kerala said, “It is an isolated incident.” He said the leadership would “ensure that such seniors won’t cross over”. “The party will examine reasons for his exit”, he said.