Swami Paripoornananda joins BJP ahead of Telangana Assembly elections

Hyderabad, Oct 20: Swami Paripoornananda, head of Sree Peetham mutt, joined the BJP in the presence of party president Amit Shah on Friday. His entry is particularly significant given the upcoming Assembly elections in Telangana.

After joining the BJP, Paripoornananda said, "I have joined the party as a Karamyogi." "His joining the BJP will infuse new energy into the party and boost its election prospects in Telangana," Shah, flanked by Paripoornananda and party general secretary Ram Madhav, told reporters.

Paripoornananda said he would work as a 'sevak' of the BJP with zero expectation and spread its message to southern parts of the country.

A Hindutva leader and strong votary of building Ram temple in Ayodhya, he may be fielded by the BJP in election, party sources said. Paripoornananda is also dubbed as "Yogi Adityanath of the South."

Paripoornananda, who has always been close to the BJP, has also written a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi titled, Third Eye. Paripoormanada is likely to strengthen the party's position in the state which could manage barely five seats in alliance with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2014 elections. However, TDP severed ties with the BJP and is now part of the grand alliance with the Congress.

The assembly elections on 119 seat Telangana assembly will be held on December 7 and the results will be declared on December 11. The elections in the state were advanced after chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao dissolved the assembly and called for an early election.