Former Congress leader and great-grandson of India's first Indian Governor-General, C Rajagopalachari, CR Kesavan on Saturday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi.
After joining the saffron party , Kesavan hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that PM Modi's people-centric policies, corruption-free governance and reform-led inclusive development agenda have transformed India. "PM Modi's people-centric policies, corruption-free governance and reform-led inclusive development agenda have transformed India from a fragile economy to the 5th largest economy in the world," Kesavan said.
He also expressed his gratitude towards BJP and said, "I wish to thank the BJP for having inducted me into the world's largest political party, and, that too, on a day when our PM is scheduled to visit Tamil Nadu."
Kesavan heaped praises for government schemes and said that people got 'pucca' house through PM Awas Yojana and three crore houses have been built. "I know people in my house who got 'pucca' house through PM Awas Yojana. 3 crore houses have been built...Amit Shah ji once said that DBT was earlier 'Dealer Broker Transfer', but now it has become 'Direct Benefit Transfer'," CR Kesavan said.
Kesavan resigned from the Congress on February 23, saying that he has not even seen vestiges of the values that made him work for the party with dedication for over two decades. Kesavan shared his resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Twitter saying he could no longer concur with "what the party symbolises, stands for or seeks to propagate". His resignation came within a month of the desertion by former Union minister AK Antony's son, Anil Antony, who parted ways with the party after coming out in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the controversial BBC documentary series.
Earlier, Anil Antony joined the BJP on April 6, in the presence of Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan. Kerala BJP chief K Surendran and senior party leaders Tarun Chugh and Anil Baluni were also present on the occasion.