AP Abdullakutty, expelled Congress leader from Kerala, joins BJP

Former Congress leader and MP AP Abdullakutty from Kerala, who was recently expelled from the party, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party’s working president JP Nadda on Wednesday. He was expelled from the Congress for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a Facebook post, Abdullakutty had said the NDA's victory was an acceptance of Modi's development agenda and the secret of his success was that he adopted Gandhian values.

Abdullakutty acted against the party by coming out with statements against its interest and sentiments and its workers, the Kerala Congress said in a statement said.

Former Congress leader and MP, AP Abdullakutty joins BJP in the presence of BJP Working President JP Nadda, today. He was recently expelled from Congress for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. pic.twitter.com/mcm64Vx58x

— ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2019

He was making "insulting" remarks against senior Congress leaders through the media, thus violating the party discipline, it said.

"In this circumstance, Abdullakutty has been expelled from the party with immediate effect," Ramachandran said.

A two-time CPI(M) MP and two-time Congress MLA, Abdullakutty was previously expelled by the Marxist party for praising Modi as the Gujarat chief minister in 2009.

This time, he praised Modi for adopting Gandhian values. He also praised the central government programmes launched under Modi in his first term as PM, such as Swachh Bharat Mission and free LPG connection under Ujwala Yojana.

The Congress mouthpiece 'Veekshanam' had criticised Abdullakutty for his statements, describing him as a "migratory bird" and said his behaviour was "completely unacceptable".