HYDERABAD: Even before the Congress could recover from the jolt of eight of its MLAs defecting to the ruling TRS, the grand old party has suffered a major setback with its senior woman leader and former minister DK Aruna deciding to join the BJP.None other than BJP national president Amit Shah spoke to Aruna over phone and assured her of a “bright future” in the saffron party and a significant post, probably a ministerial berth, if BJP returns to power at the Centre.She left for Delhi and is expected to join the BJP in the presence of Amit Shah on Wednesday. Aruna hails from a reputed political family, and is the second prominent women leader leaving the Congress, after Sabitha Indra Reddy.Aruna would be contesting from Mahbubnagar parliamentary constituency as the BJP candidate. Congress has fielded AICC secretary and ex-MLA Vamshichand Reddy. The sitting MP is AP Jithender Reddy of TRS but the pink party is yet to announce its candidate. Aruna’s exit is a big jolt for Congress ahead of April 11 Lok Sabha polls.Aruna was not available for her reaction. She did not reply to sms and WhatsApp messages sent by TOI . However, two days ago she had spoken to TOI in connection with the political situation in Mahbubnagar and stated that she was really unhappy over the efforts being made by a section of party leaders to sabotage her political career. She was upset with the state leadership and also former Union minister S Jaipal Reddy for allegedly trying to scuttle her growth in the Congress.Though Aruna had lost from Gadwal Assembly segment in December-2018 election, she was keen to contest from Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seat.“I want to contest Mahbubnagar, but efforts are being made to give the ticket to another candidate,” she had told TOI two days ago.Perhaps denial of Mahabubnagar ticket was the last straw for Aruna to leave the party. The Congress second list announced on Monday midnight saw Kalwakurthy ex-MLAVamshichand Reddy getting Congress party ticket from Mahbubnagar, and not DK Aruna. BJP’s Ram Madhav had held talks with DK Aruna for over 45 minutes on Tuesday and also made her speak with BJP national chief Amit Shah over phone. Shah promised her of 'bright future' in BJP, sources said. Aruna’s exit will certainly be a big shock to Congress as she’s one of the strong leaders from Mahabubnagar district. She won consecutively from Gadwal assembly constituency in 2004 on Samajwadi Party ticket, and on Congress ticket in 2009 and 2014 assembly polls.

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