Former Union Minister V S Prasad joins Congress

New Delhi, Dec 21 (UNI) Former Union Minister in the NDA Government V Sriniwas Prasad today joined the Congress here.

A four time Congress MP, since 1980, Mr Sriniwas Prasad had earlier joined the Samata Party and was Union Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs.

While AICC General Secretary B K Hari Prasad and Secretary Praveen Dawar announced the entry of Mr Sriniwas Prasad at a news conference, they said inclusion of former Union Minister of State for Finance Dhananjaya Kumar, and an actor-turned-former BJP MP Shashi Kumar was a mere formality.

Mr Prasad told reporters here that he had been inactive for quite some time and therefore he decided to return home and to active politics. He had received feelers from the Congress, but he was till now undecided on the issue.

Mr Dawar said the party delayed the inclusion of Mr Prasad into the Congress because it had decided to postpone it until after the Chamundeswari byelection.

He said former Union Minister D K Tara Devi and Mr Shashi Kumar would join the party in Bangalore tomorrow.

Mr Sriniwas Prasad told reporters that he had supported the JS (S) candidate in the last elections and thereafter did not join any party until he joined the Congress today. In the Chamundeswari byelection he supported the Congress candidate and former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Mr Siddaramaiah said he won by a very narrow margin in the Assembly byelection because Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his colleagues indulged in electoral malpractices and used money and muscle power.

UNI YS RP HT1942