Setback for Arvind Kejriwal, former Bengaluru top cop Bhaskar Rao quits AAP, joins BJP

In a major embarrassment for the Aam Aadmi Party and its chief Arvind Kejriwal, the party's Karnataka unit vice president Bhaskar Rao quit the AAP and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday. 

The resignation comes as a major setback for Arvind Kejriwal, who is scheduled to attend a convention at Davangere on March 4 along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Bhaskar was also one of the most prominent faces of the AAP in Karnataka. 

It is believed that the reason why the former Bengaluru Police Commissioner decided to leave the AAP a year after he joined it was that he was feeling ignored and sidelined. To recall, Bhaskar resigned from the IPS and joined AAP in April 2022.

In January 2023, Bhaskar was made the head of the manifesto committee. He wanted to contest the forthcoming assembly elections in the state from the Basavanagudi constituency, but there had been no movement on the part of the leadership in Delhi. According to sources, Bhaskar's exit was hastened due to his reported not-so-good equations with certain leaders, especially in the state unit and its recent organisational changes.

Bhaskar reportedly told media persons that he had decided to move on as he saw no growth in the AAP. 

On Tuesday, the former top cop had held deliberations with the co-in charge for BJP's Karnataka election and Tamil Nadu unit president, K Annamalai. He also met Revenue Minister R Ashoka.