BJP bags Babu Mohan

Hyderabad: In a move that is bound to surprise TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao, actor- turned- TRS former MLA from Andole Assembly constituency Babu Mohan, who was denied the Pink Party ticket, joined BJP in the presence of party chief Amit Shah in New Delhi on Saturday.

Currently, the party is all set to fast track its political activities and holding talks with around five leaders from both TRS and Congress. BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao, who is camping in the city, has been overseeing these activities. And, a few more leaders are expected to join the party on or before the next election meeting of party chief Amit Shah scheduled to be held in Karimnagar, according to sources.

In fast-paced developments that began from Friday morning, Babu Mohan expressed his intentions to join the party to the emissaries of the BJP who are in touch with him for the last two weeks since he was denied TRS ticket to contest from the Andole constituency.

Following these developments, the issue has been discussed at the party’s core committee meeting held on Friday, and his admission into the party had been taken up by Muralidhar Rao with the party high command, according to sources. His admission into the party has been cleared late on Friday evening itself.

Consequently, the party state president K Laxman, accompanied Babu Mohan to formally announce his admission into the party in the presence of the saffron party chief Amit Shah in Delhi on Saturday. It was a déjà vu moment for the former actor for he faced a similar situation of denial of ticket by the TDP during the 2014 elections, Babu Mohan then switched over to the TRS. He was offered Andole ticket by KCR.

Speaking to The Hans India, a BJP source said, “Babu Mohan joining in the party would provide a morale booster to paving way for four to five leaders from TRS and Congress, who have been keeping in touch with the party leadership for the last 15 days.” The party had earlier tried to rope in Konda Surekha, a former TRS MLA from Warangal East Assembly constituency, following her name missing in the list of 105 party contestants announced by the TRS. 

The party had also promised to accommodate her demands, besides allocating the Warangal East for her to contest in the ensuing Assembly elections. But, the communication with her was snapped following Surekha’s announcement of joining the Congress, he said.