EX-CONGRESS LEADER RADHIKA KHERA, ACTOR SHEKHAR SUMAN JOIN BJP

NEW DELHI: Former Congress spokesperson Radhika Khera and actor Shekhar Suman joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday in the presence of party leader Vinod Tawde at the party's Delhi headquarters.

Radhika Khera joined the BJP a day after making startling allegations against the Congress. In a media brief on Monday, Khera explained her decision to resign from its primary membership on Sunday.

She claimed that the Congress began to "hate her" after she visited the Ayodhya Ram Temple and was reprimanded for sharing videos or photos of the grand temple.

Khera further alleged that during Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, a Congress leader, Sushil Anand Shukha, offered her alcohol and knocked on her door with 5-6 party workers while intoxicated.

She claimed to have informed Sachin Pilot and Jairam Ramesh about the incident, but no action was taken. Khera alleged that she was disregarded because she did not adhere to the party's "anti-Hindu ideology."

Radhika resigned from the primary membership of Congress alleging mistreatment by party members.

She also alleged that Congress Sachin Pilot refused to take her call before his PA told her "not to open her mouth" about the Chhattisgarh incident. Khera said she even approached ex-Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, who asked her to leave the state.

For Shekhar Suman, this will be the second stint in the politics after he resigned from Congress in 2012.

The actor had also contested against former BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha in the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency in the 2009 general elections.