Controversial pontiff Paripoornand joins BJP, likely to contest polls

Swami Paripoornand, a controversial pontiff, on Friday joined the BJP. Interestingly,  many compare him to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his saffron robes.

Paripoornand, head of Sree Peetham of Kakinada was formally welcomed by BJP president Amit Shah by putting the BJP bandana around his shoulders. The ceremony was held at the BJP’s head office in New Delhi. Paripoornand held several rounds of talks with Amit Shah and discussed the political situation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He also met the BJP general secretary and RSS pracharak Ram Madhav earlier in the day.

Paripoornand had hit the headlines a few months ago when he was barred by Hyderabad police from entering the city on charges of making inflammatory speeches. He had tried to take out a protest march in the city against alleged objectionable remarks of a Telugu film critic against Hindu religious figures Rama and Sita.

However the ban was revoked by the Hyderabad HC and he returned to the city in a big procession. According to the sources BJP was planning to field him in one of the assembly constituencies in Hyderabad as he had a large number of followers in the city. Party was likely to use his services in the election campaign in other parts of Telangana as well as AP.