Former Bengaluru police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao likely to join BJP, quitting AAP
Bengaluru, Feb 28: Former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao, who is the Chairman of Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Manifesto Committee, is likely to join the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls in Karnataka, sources close to him and the party said on Tuesday.
The former IPS officer today met state's Revenue Minister R Ashoka and held discussions.
He is also said to have met Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai, a former IPS officer and party's co-in-charge for Karnataka polls, and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, sources said, adding that he will be joining the party soon.
Rao, who resigned from the IPS, had joined AAP in April last year, and was recently appointed as the party's Manifesto Committee's Chairman, and had emerged as one of the prominent faces of the party in the state.
Rao, who was even seen as AAP's probable candidate from the Basavanagudi Assembly constituency, is said to have quit the party due to his reported not so good equations with certain leaders especially in the state unit and its recent organisational changes, sources added.
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Kerala leader M A Baby elected CPIM general secretary
Madurai(PTI): Former Kerala minister M A Baby was elected as the CPI(M) general secretary at the 24th party congress here on Sunday, sources said.
A section of the party leaders had backed All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) president Ashok Dhawale for the post.
Born to P M Alexander and Lilly Alexander in Kerala's Prakkulam in 1954, Baby's first exposure to politics came when he joined the Kerala Students Federation, the predecessor of the Students Federation of India, during his school days.
He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1998.
Baby has been a member of the Politburo, the highest decision-making body of the CPI(M), since 2012.
The post of the party general secretary fell vacant following the death of Sitaram Yechury last year, after which Prakash Karat took over as the interim coordinator.
The 24th party congress of the CPI(M) began on April 2 and will end on Sunday.
