Karnataka Assembly Polls 2023: AAP leader Bhaskar Rao quits party, joins BJP

In a major setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Former Commissioner of Bengaluru and party leader Bhaskar Rao joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections.

“I will make sure that I will help the BJP party to strengthen its roots,” said the leader in a press conference. 

“The BJP has always been a party known for nationalism and I would want to be a part of their journey,” he added. 

The former IPS officer spoke with state Revenue Minister R. Ashoka on February 28 and 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. 

Mr Rao, 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.