Bahujan Samaj Party Telangana unit president and former IPS officer R S Praveen Kumar was forced to resign from the post and the party, following a dressing down from BSP national president Mayawati for entering into an alliance with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
Praveen, who apparently got a strong reprimand from Mayawati, announced that he was resigning from the post following undue pressure from the BSP leadership to call off the poll pact with BRS.
Later, he met BRS president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao at the latter’s residence. He is likely to join the BRS in a day or two and will be contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Nagarkurnool seat.
Speaking to newsmen after meeting KCR, the former IPS officer alleged that it was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that had mounted pressure on the BSP leadership to call off the electoral understanding with the BRS.
Praveen Kumar said the BSP leadership was in the know of developments over his talks with the BRS chief and the electoral understanding with BRS was initially sanctioned by the BSP leadership.
However, he claimed that the BJP’s intervention forced the party to retract the alliance and that he was instructed to announce the cancellation publicly.
He was disinclined to follow the instructions from the BSP leadership as he firmly believed that the poll pact once finalised ought to be followed in letter and spirit come what may.
Reflecting on his service and his political journey, Kumar stated, “I served the country as an IPS officer. With profound regret, I am stepping down from the BSP.”
He recalled his work at the grassroots level, which included extensive tour of 4000 villages before he joined the BSP with blessings from the party supremo Mayawati.
He said the arrest of KCR’s daughter Kalwakuntla Kavitha within hours of BSP forging an alliance with the BRS was also because the BJP did not want the alliance to materialise.
“This has pained me a lot and a reason for me to come out of the BSP,” he said.
He expressed hope that all the Bahujan community will support him and his decision.