Former Director General of Tamil Nadu Police Braj Kishore Ravi on Thursday joined the Congress at an event in New Delhi. He took voluntary retirement from the Indian Police Service to join the Grand Old Party.
Congress Working Committee member Naseer Hussain and Bihar Pradesh Committee president Akhilesh Prasad Singh welcomed him into the party and said Ravi’s induction into the party will strengthen its Bihar unit.
Hussein said, "More and more prominent people and leaders, including those from other parties, are joining the Congress. This [New joinees] has gained momentum, particularly after Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra."
PD Singh said that Ravi had been inclined towards the Congress's ideology for a long time. "After Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, Ravi's resolve to join the party strengthened. He wanted to leave his job and got in touch with us. He wants to serve the Congress and spread its ideology in Bihar," Singh said.
He added, "Just yesterday, the chairman of the manifesto committee of the BJP in Telangana, Vivek Venkataswamy also joined the Congress. Earlier, two Bahujan Samaj Party legislators joined the Congress in Rajasthan."
Ravi, who hails from Bihar, served as an IPS officer in the Tamil Nadu cadre for more than 30 years. According to a statement released by the Congress, Ravi is also a strong supporter of marginalized communities and has worked in the fields of social reform and agriculture.
The Congress's statement read: "Sharing the ideology and principles of the Congress Party, with a focus on the empowerment of underprivileged sections of society, he chose to voluntarily retire from his cadre on September 30, embarking on a new journey with the Congress."
Ravi's father, Tul Mohan Ram, was a freedom fighter and a three-term Lok Sabha MP from 1962 to 1977 and also an MLA from 1957 to 1962 for the Congress.