Daughter of Kerala ex-CM joins BJP

New Delhi, March 7

After Anil Antony, son of Congress veteran and former Union Defence Minister AK Antony, Padmaja Venugopal, the daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister and Congress stalwart K Karunakaran joined the BJP here on Thursday.

Kerala Congress chief K Sudhakaran called the decision a “betrayal”. K Muraleedharan, Congress MP and son of K Karunakaran, also called his sister’s decision unfortunate adding that he was ending his relationship with Padmaja.

Kerala BJP chief K Surendran, however, said Anil Antony and Padmaja’s decisions to join the BJP signalled a rising saffron wave.

Padmaja said: “I have great respect for Sonia ji but she did not give me an appointment. I tried to reach out to the Congress leaders several times but was not given an appointment,” she said.