Hyderabad, Mar 18 (IANS): Former IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar, who resigned as Bahujan Samaj Party's Telangana unit President two days ago and quit the party, joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Monday.

He, with many of his supporters, formally joined the BRS in the presence of party President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at the latter’s farmhouse at Erravelli in Siddipet district.

About 35 state-level leaders of BSP and 50 district-level leaders joined the BRS along with Praveen Kumar.

Praveen Kumar, who resigned from the BSP on March 16, said BSP chief Mayawati, under pressure from the BJP, asked him to break the alliance with the BRS for Lok Sabha polls but he refused to do so and decided to quit the party.

He said like the BRS chief, he never went back on his words and hence, he decided to join the BRS.

The BRS had agreed to leave two Lok Sabha seats (Nagarkurnool and Hyderabad) for the BSP following talks with the national-level leaders of the party on March 15. The BSP had also named Praveen Kumar as its candidate from Nagarkurnool. The next day, Praveen Kumar announced his dramatic decision to quit the BSP, the party which he had joined after taking voluntary retirement from the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 2021. He said he preferred to join the BRS in the larger interests of Telangana.

“I decided to join the BRS without any expectations. Had I been a package-seeker, I would have joined the Congress,” he said.

The former IPS officer said Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had offered him a key post but he refused. Referring to the Congress leadership’s decision to open its gates, encouraging leaders from other parties to join its fold, he said he could not be part of a sheep-like herd.

Praveen Kumar said he made up his 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 people’s welfare," he said.