Padmaja Venugopal joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Padmaja Venugopal, the daughter of former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran, joined the BJP in New Delhi on Thursday and said she was not happy with the grand old party for several years as it lacked a strong leadership.
Addressing a press conference with the BJP leaders at the party headquarters here, Venugopal said she tried to reach out to the Congress top brass several times to raise her grievances but was never given an appointment.
"I complained to the Congress high command so many times but there was no response. I also came to see the Congress leadership here in this connection several times but they didn't give me an appointment," she told reporters.
"So, 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). All I wanted was to work peacefully," she said.
"My father also had the same experience. He was very unhappy with the party," she added.
Venugopal said every party should have a strong leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a "very strong leader" of the BJP.
"In the Congress, there is no leadership. I have great respect for Sonia ji but I can't meet her. She didn't give an appointment to anybody," she claimed.
Venugopal joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders, including its Kerala in-charge and former Union minister Prakash Javadekar.
Welcoming her into the party fold, Javadekar said there is going to be a "big churning" in Kerala now.
"This is what is going to happen now. Till the results (of the Lok Sabha elections are announced), you will see many more things," he said.
Seeing the country's progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, Javadekar said, people are joining the BJP.
"Modi ji has done tremendous things for Kerala," he said.
The BJP is a party which gives "respect, responsibility and role" to everyone.
"I welcome Padmaja ji. We now have a good campaigner in her... Modi ji has given us a target. We are going to create history in this election," he added.
Speaking at the press conference, BJP leader Tom Vaddakan said Venugopal joining the party is a very emotional moment for him as her father was his mentor.
"Karunakaran ji was my mentor. So, it's a very emotional moment for me to welcome her," said Vaddakan, who had quit the Congress to join the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)