Cong leader Padmaja Venugopal joins BJP

New Delhi: Congress leader Padmaja Venugopal, the daughter of former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran, on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here, saying she was not happy with the grand old party for several years and it lacked a strong leadership.

Venugopal joined the BJP in the presence of the senior party leaders, including its Kerala in-charge and former Union minister Prakash Javadekar.

Addressing a press conference with the BJP leaders at the party headquarters here, Venugopal said she was so happy to have joined the BJP but a “little bit tense also” because she stood with the Congress for several years.

‘I decided to quit because I was not happy with the Congress for so many years, especially since the last Assembly elections in the state (Kerala),’ she told reporters.