RS Praveen Kumar joins BRS

Hyderabad: Former IPS officer and Bahujan activist RS Praveen Kumar, who had quit the post of BSP State president and resigned from the party two days ago, joined the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) on Monday.

BRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao welcomed him into the partyfold offering the pink scarf at Erravelli. A host of BSP leaders and its state unit office bearers also joined the BRS along with Praveen Kumar.

Calling it a historic opportunity given to him by the BRS leadership, Praveen Kumar extended his thanks to the former Chief Minister. Recalling the sacrifices made by the martyrs of the Statehood movement and Bahujan movement, he offered his tributes to them. He said Chandrashekhar Rao, who fought for Statehood risking his life had realised it the hard way and laid a strong foundation for rebuilding a new State.

Calling it the convergence of the Bahujan movement with the Telangana movement, he said like the BRS chief, he too believed in not taking ‘U’ turns under any circumstances.

Even if BSP chief Mayawati wanted the poll pact reached between the BRS and BSP in the State ahead of the Parliamentary polls to be called off, he said he was against such a step backward.

Reminding the BRS leadership of the need to protect all his followers who joined the BRS with him, he said “Our activists may be economically poor, but not ideologically.”

Earlier, stating that he preferred to join the BRS in the larger interests of Telangana, Praveen Kumar paid tributes at the statue of Prof Jayashankar at Telangana Bhavan before leaving for Erravelli.

“Had I been a package-seeker, I would have joined the Congress. But I cannot be a sheep in the flock. I was being questioned in social media about how many crores I garnered to join the BRS. I decided to join the BRS without any expectations. I have made up my mind to take part in the reconstruction of Telangana State. I am driven by the Bahujan ideology, and I will remain committed to honesty and continue to fight for the welfare of the masses,” he said.

In an obvious reference to the Congress party leadership’s decision to open its gates, encouraging leaders from other parties to join its fold, he said he could not be part of the herd like sheep. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was all praise for him on one hand and sounding critical of him on the other, he said.

It is not Revanth Reddy alone, I too hail from Palamuru district. It is true that I was offered the post of the chairman of Telangana State Public Service Commission, but I declined the offer,” he said.