Twist: Suresh Prabhu quits Shiv Sena, joins BJP

New Delhi, Nov 9: Former Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu today formally joined the BJP before being sworn in as Cabinet Minister in the first expansion of the Narendra Modi government.

Prabhu, who was Power Minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led previous NDA government, received the party's primary membership in the morning and was welcomed by senior party leaders.

The 61-year-old banker-politician was a Shiv Sena leader and joins at a time when there is simmering tension between the Sena and the BJP amid talk that Uddhav Thackeray will pull his party out of the government at the Centre and play the role of opposition in Maharashtra.

Prabhu has been appointed as Modi's 'sherpa' to assist the Prime Minister at the upcoming G20 summit in Brisbane. During Vajpayee's tenure from 1998 to 2004, Prabhu was Industry Minister, Minister of Environment and Forests, Minister of Fertilizers.

PTI