Senior leader Tom Vadakkan joins BJP; hurt by dynasty politics in Congress, party's 'anti-national' stand on Pulwama attack

Disgruntled by the Congress’ response after the 14 February Pulwama attack, the party’s national spokesperson and Sonia Gandhi’s aide Tom Vadakkan joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday. Vadakkan joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad ahead of the Lok Sabha election to be held in April-May.“At a time like this, it is not right to engage in such commentary,” he said, adding that he is “hurt by Congress’s anti-national stand”. [caption id=“attachment_6259271” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Tom Vadakkan addressed the media after joining the BJP on 14 March. ANI[/caption] Vadakkan said dynasty politics reached a ‘zenith’ in the Congress. “I gave the Congress 20 years of my prime. The dynasty politics have reached a zenith and no one knows the power centres and whom to answer to. There is a use-and-throw phenomenon, which is not acceptable for workers,” he told mediapersons in New Delhi. The senior leader from Kerala thanked the BJP for accepting him into the party fold and said he is influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to change the narrative around development. “A narrative that brings the world’s attention to India is more important than any elections,” he said. Vadakkan’s deflection to the BJP comes only a few hours after Trinamool Congress MLA Arjun Singh joined the Modi-led party. Earlier this month, senior leader from Odisha Baijayant Jay Panda joined the BJP, nine months after leaving the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal.