T’puram: Mahila Congress general secretary R Reshmi, who recently quit the party, joined BJP on Saturday in the presence of BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar at Mararji Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram. After officially joining BJP, Reshmi said she was forced to leave Congress on account of bitter experiences meted out to her by the party, details of which, she said, will be revealed soon. Reshmi, however, said her resignation was in no way connected to the recent induction of former CPM leader Aisha Potty in Congress.
Reshmi, who was the Congress candidate in Kottarakkara constituency against finance minister K N Balagopal in the last assembly election, said she faced severe discrimination by a section of Congress leaders. She added that the Congress leadership did not act on a complaint she filed against a party functionary. Reshmi rejected reports that financial issues were the reason for her leaving Congress. She said she will continue to work in Kottarakkara and BJP leadership would take a decision on her candidacy in the assembly election. There were reports that Reshmi felt unsettled after Potty joined Congress. Being a popular leader who represented the Kottarakkara assembly constituency multiple times, Congress is likely to field Potty in Kottarakkara. Senior Congress leaders such as V D Satheesan and Kodikunnil Suresh reportedly made an attempt to dissuade Reshmi from leaving the party. TNN
