Telangana Polls: Ex-MP Vivek quits BJP, joins Congress

In a setback to the BJP ahead of the November 30 Assembly polls in Telangana, former MP G Vivek Venkataswamy resigned from the party and joined the Congress in the presence of AICC former president Rahul Gandhi in Hyderabad. In a letter to Telangana BJP chief G Kishan Reddy, Vivek, National Executive Board Member of BJP, conveyed his decision.

TPCC President Revanth Reddy told reporters that he wholeheartedly welcomed Vivek to join the Congress party and he accepted it.

Vivek's exit from the party comes less than a week after another senior leader Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy who unsuccessfully contested on the saffron party ticket in the by-poll for the Munugode Assembly constituency last year, resigned from the BJP and joined the Congress.