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‘AAP whimsical, don’t trust leaders’, says ex Bengaluru top cop Bhaskar Rao after switch to BJP

Rao had joined AAP in April last year, but quit Tuesday and joined BJP a day later. His exit from AAP ahead of assembly polls in Karnataka later this year being seen as blow to party.

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Bengaluru: Branding the Aam Aadmi Party as “extremely quixotic” and “whimsical”, former Bengaluru city police commissioner, Bhaskar Rao, who quit the party Tuesday to join the Bharatiya Janata Party a day later, alleged “they (AAP) are not a growing party” to explain his switch of allegiance.

Rao’s exit could be a blow to the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, even before the party has launched its campaign for this year’s scheduled Karnataka elections.

Rao, a 1990-batch IPS officer, had joined AAP in April last year, in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, raising hopes for the party in the 2023 Karnataka elections.

“They (AAP) say one thing and do another, they are an extremely quixotic party, whimsical, they don’t take each other into confidence, they don’t function like a party but an MNC (multinational company). They don’t trust their own leaders over there, they have external paid observers to keep an eye on their leaders,” Rao told ThePrint Tuesday, after announcing his intention of joining the BJP.

Rao’s entry into the BJP adds to speculations over a possible change in the party’s pick of candidate for a Bengaluru South constituency in the coming elections.

According to multiple sources aware of developments, Rao has been keen on contesting from the Brahmin-dominated Basavanagudi assembly constituency in Bengaluru, which is currently represented by three-term BJP MLA Ravi Subramanya. But Subramanya is the uncle of Bengaluru South BJP MP, Tejaswi Surya, leading to speculations that the party is likely to impose its rule of giving election tickets to just one member of a family. Rao’s chances of getting a ticket from this constituency is boosted by the fact that he himself is a Brahmin, said sources.

Playing down the speculations however, Rao told ThePrint, “It (BJP) is a big party. First I have to contribute to the party and only then will they consider me”.

His exit from AAP comes days before the Delhi Chief Minister is scheduled to visit Karnataka Saturday, to formally kick off the party’s election campaign in the state, with hopes of replicating its success in last year’s Punjab elections.

Vishwas Shetty, a Bengaluru-based political analyst, told ThePrint: “In an election year for Karnataka, AAP is already on the backfoot with two of its ministers in jail. Now, with Bhaskar Rao, the only serious and recognised face of AAP quitting, it will
be a big blow to the very organisation structure of the party.”

He added: “This will dent the confidence of the cadre and make it difficult for AAP to have any serious impact in Karnataka.”

At a press conference in Bengaluru Wednesday, state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel said there is a “wave of hope” that the BJP will return to power and several state leaders are ready to join the party.

“Bhaskar Rao has also joined us today. He has rich administrative experience and has told us that he will contribute to the party as a simple worker and has no expectations (of tickets),” he added.


Also read: ‘Good chance of Lingayats coming back after Yediyurappa’s removal as CM,’ says Congress’s MB Patil


Illustrious career, but not without controversies

While Rao has had an illustrious career in the Indian police service and served in several key postings in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka, his tenure has not been without its share of controversies.

He was born in Chennai and is an alumnus of the National College in Jayanagar, Karnataka. He also holds a master’s degree from Bengaluru University. An NCC cadet during his student days, Rao has also been a recipient of the UN Medal for services rendered in international peacekeeping in a warzone.

In August 2019, however, a leaked phone conversation — purportedly between Rao and a power broker — sparked a row over illegal phone tapping between the ruling BJP and Janata Dal (Secular), a party that had been accused of tapping some 300 phone lines, while it had been in power under H.D. Kumaraswamy between May 2018 to August 2019.

Rao’s leaked conversation was purportedly about the former senior cop lobbying for the post of Bengaluru commissioner. The leak led to a showdown between two senior IPS officers — Rao and current additional director general of police (ADGP), law and order, Alok Kumar — as the former accused the latter of tapping his phone to defame him.

The BJP’s B.S. Yediyurappa, who had just become chief minister at the time handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which filed its ‘B’ report, citing lack of evidence.

Rao had also locked horns with C.N. Ashwath Narayan, incumbent minister for higher education during the Covid-19-induced lockdown in early 2020, as the latter accused Rao of receiving kickbacks from e-commerce companies to be allowed to function despite restrictions.

Rao served as Bengaluru city police commissioner between August 2019 and 2020, after being handpicked by Yediyurappa to replace Alok Kumar, who had been appointed by the previous H.D. Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government. Kumar had been commissioner for only 47 days.

A cycling enthusiast, Rao has also served as transport commissioner.

He opted for voluntary retirement service (VRS) in September 2021. He was serving as additional director general of police at the time. He then went on to join AAP.

Interestingly, Rao reportedly approached K. Annamalai, a former IPS officer himself and incumbent Tamil Nadu BJP state president, before joining the BJP. Annamalai is also BJP’s co-in-charge for Karnataka polls.

‘One chance to Kejriwal’

Though AAP has been active in Karnataka since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it has failed to really gain any momentum as it continues to hunt for known faces to help build the party connect in the state.

In March last year, AAP held a fund-raiser in Bengaluru’s Chancery Pavillion hotel that was attended by over a 100 people and the party managed to raise around Rs 28 lakhs.

AAP had also prepared to contest the Bengaluru City corporation elections which have not been held since September 2020, adding to its fledgling chances in the southern state which is largely considered to be a triangular fight between the BJP, Congress and JD(S).

In the past year or so, AAP has managed to rope in a few known faces, like former Congress legislator and Kannada actor Mukyamantri Chandru, advocate and former Congress spokesperson Brijesh Kalappa and farmer leader and former president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, among others.

The party continues to seek votes in the name of party chief Kejriwal — the party’s most-recognized member.

Party promotions pasted on the back of autos on Bengaluru streets read  “#OneChanceToKejriwal”.

The 'one chance to Kejriwal' promotion | Photo: ThePrint
The ‘one chance to Kejriwal’ promotion | Photo: ThePrint

While speaking to ThePrint in January, AAP’s Karnataka state convener and member of national executive, Prithvi Reddy, had said Kejriwal’s name did not represent the person, but an idea.

“Not Kejriwal the person, but the idea and work he represents. The model he has built and says this is possible. So when you talk about Kejriwal, you think about the work he has done,” Reddy had said.

He had also claimed that people were joining the party on a daily basis.

“A lot of them are not sitting MLAs or former MLAs etc, but those who have worked for existing political parties for long times, disillusioned, low opportunities there, the fact that they are not able to face the voter is causing them to come to the AAP,” he added.

Atishi Marlena, the AAP MLA from Delhi had exuded confidence in the party’s prospects when she met leaders from the Karnataka unit in January.

“Difficult to say how many seats we will get, but the fact is that we have a government in Delhi and Punjab, two MLAs in Goa and five in Gujarat. So, Aam Aadmi Party is clearly now being seen as an alternative in different parts of the country,” she had told ThePrint at the time.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)


Also read: Rahul Gandhi will be Congress’s prime ministerial face in 2024, says Siddaramaiah


 

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