The Telangana BJP on Saturday came under fire after Chikoti Praveen, a gambler and casino operator, joined the party in the presence of senior leaders at the BJP’s city office in Barkatpura.

Chikoti Praveen was welcomed by DK Aruna, BJP’s national vice-president and former MLC Ramachandra Rao. Speaking on the occasion, the new entrant to the party vowed to strengthen it in Telangana.

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Notorious for his association with gambling and casinos, Praveen had made an attempt to join the BJP last month as well. On September 11, he set off from Karmanghat with a huge procession with much fanfare to join the saffron party. However, by the time he reached Nampally, the party’s state chief G Kishan Reddy had left party headquarters.

In July 2022, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted a raid on him suspecting his involvement in hawala transactions. He came under the ED radar for organising casinos for VIPs and celebrities in Nepal and Indonesia.

The high-profile gambler, who maintains links with politicians of all hues, was also allegedly involved in running a casino during Sankranthi in Gudivada Assembly constituency of Andhra Pradesh at a function hall belonging to a former YSRCP minister.

When Telangana Forest Department officials raided his farmhouse in the Ranga Reddy district, they discovered quite a few species of exotic wild animals and seized them. In May this year, he hit the headlines when he was arrested by the Thailand Police following a raid at Asia Pattaya hotel in the Bang Lamung district along with other Indian tourists. He, later, circulated a video denying any wrongdoing and said he was arrested for simply being present during the raid.

In July this year, Praveen was booked by the Gajwel Police for trying to take out a rally in town in the wake of communal clashes. The trouble broke out in the chief minister’s constituency when a statue of Shivaji was desecrated by an inebriated man and Praveen reached there to take out a rally and garland the statue before police intervened.

After Praveen joined the BJP, BRS supporters trolled the saffron party with some even posting a video clip of Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the national general secretary who had mentioned the gambler in a speech when he talked about how under KT Rama Rao the brand Hyderabad was actually a hub of land mafia, liquor mafia, and gambling.