Former MP Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu resigns from BJP

Hyderabad: Former Rajya Sabha MP Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu has resigned from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Ananda Bhaskar, in a letter to BJP national president JP Nadda on Wednesday, said the Union government had ‘vigorously shown a step-motherly treatment towards Telangana and grabbed away several rightful opportunities from Telangana’.

The former MP, calling for the BJP to introspect whether it was adhering to its stated position of ‘positive secularism’, said ‘awkward divisions’ were being promoted and that there was not even any tokenism of following the late AB Vajpayee’s advice on cooperative federalism. Most importantly, ‘for reaping electoral benefits, terrifying and creating division’ was a hallmark of the party now, he said, adding that though he was consistently following up on weavers’ issues, his requests were ignored.

Ananda Bhaskar also said the GST on handloom products was severely affecting the weavers, adding that the observation of welfare as a ‘freebie’ had shaken him to the core.

He also said that for the last four years, he was ignored, humiliated, underrated and excluded in national roles.