Eluru MP Kavuri follows Purandeswari into BJP

Rao, who resigned as the minister earlier this month, told reporters in Eluru that he would join the BJP on May 1 at Bheemavaram in the presence of party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. He said he was joining the BJP for the state's development.

Rao resigned from the cabinet on April 3 to protest bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. He has also announced that he would not contest the Lok Sabha polls on Congress ticket.

He said that the central government did not even take his views into consideration while taking a decision to bifurcate the state.

The MP from Eluru in West Godavari district was inducted into the union cabinet in June last year.

After the bill for formation of separate Telangana state was passed in parliament in February, Rao wanted to join the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). However, the TDP leaders in West Godavari district opposed his admission into the party.

Rao had a three-decade-old association with the Congress. He was first elected to Lok Sabha in 1984, and re-elected in 1989, 1998, 2004 and 2009.

He is the second central minister to quit over the State's bifurcation and join the BJP. Last month, D. Purandeswari had resigned as a minister and also quit the Congress. She is contesting for the Lok Sabha from Rajampet constituency.