Sonia Gandhi's close aide Tom Vadakkan quits Congress, joins BJP ahead of Lok Sabha Election 2019

In a setback to Congress, Sonia Gandhi's close aide Tom Vadakkan on Thursday quit the party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha Election 2019. 

The upcoming national elections are set to be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. The votes will be counted on May 23. The poll panel also announced the Assembly elections schedule in Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha. 

Vadakkan also attacked his former party's stand on the Pulwama terror attack and India's retaliatory strikes.

Immediately after joining, Vadakkan said he was "hurt" at the situation within the Congress where it was not clear that who was the power centre.

He also said the Congress' reaction to attacks carried out by Pakistan-based terrorists was sad, while asserting that he believed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development narrative.