Senior JD(S) leader A T Ramaswamy joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi on Saturday in presence of Union Minister Anurag Thakur, BJP national general secretary Dushyant Gautam and Rajya Sabha member Lehar Singh Siroya.

With the Karnataka Assembly elections scheduled on May 10, the JD(S) leader resigned from the State Legislative Assembly on Friday.

"It is a great pleasure for me to announce that I am joining the BJP because of love and affection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa," Ramaswamy told reporters after joining the national party in New Delhi.

Ramaswamy said he is joining the BJP without any condition as he was impressed with the way the party is functioning and the country is progressing. "It is mostly because of the core values and ideas of the top most leadership in the BJP," he said.

"As a politician in public life, I have never aspired any benefits or facilities from the government. I am a victim of the money power because I spoke against corruption," Ramaswamy said.

"I have not asked for anything from BJP including the MLA seat but if given an opportunity I will serve people," he said.

With Ramaswamy's exit, JD(S) suffered yet another blow, which recently witnessed the Gubbi MLA S R Srinivas joining the Congress while Arasikere MLA Shivalinge Gowda too had announced that he would join the grand old party shortly.

The party’s another MLA K Srinivasa Gowda had long back identified himself with the Congress during the cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections.

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