Another blow for Congress; AICC member and Mahila Congress leader Thankamani Divakaran joins BJP

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Yet another Congress leader has left the party and joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Mahila Congress leader Thankamani Divakaran is the latest to leave the Congress and join the BJP. She received the party membership from Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is also the NDA candidate in Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency. BJP District President VV Rajesh and senior leaders were present at the event.

Thankamani Divakaran was the UDF candidate in the Attingal constituency in the 2011 Assembly elections. Thankamani, an AICC member, is also a state committee member of the Mahila Congress. She is the sister of renowned director Lenin Rajendran. She said that she was leaving the Congress as the party was reluctant to respect women.

"I was an active worker of the Congress since I was 27 years old. However, I faced severe neglect from the party. The Congress is showing reluctance to respect women. Today, several women are facing neglect in the Congress. That is why I am leaving the party. I wish to work more for women," she told media.

Although the UDF had won the assembly elections in 2011, Thankamani had lost to CPM candidate B Sathyan in Attingal. She only got 33943 votes from the constituency.

Earlier, the Congress leadership had said that Thankamani was temporarily staying away from party activities. Several Congress leaders left the party and joined the BJP after Rajeev Chandrasekhar was named the BJP candidate in Thiruvananthapuram. Congress leader and K Karunakaran's daughter Padmaja Venugopal had joined the BJP a few weeks ago.

Former Thiruvananthapuram DCC general secretaries Thampanoor Satheesh, Udayan and Sports Council former president Padmini Thomas had recently left the Congress and joined the BJP. Apart from them, 18 Congress workers also left the party. They received the BJP membership after reaching the BJP election committee office in Thiruvananthapuram.