A few days after taking voluntary retirement, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer R.S. Praveen Kumar on Sunday joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

He joined the party at a public meeting held in Nalgonda, in the presence of its national coordinator Ramji Gautam.

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Gautam subsequently announced Praveen Kumar’s appointment as the BSP’s Telangana state coordinator.

In his address at the meeting, Praveen Kumar called upon ‘Bahujans’ to turn rulers and not slaves. He urged them to strive to achieve political power.

Praveen Kumar, who has good following among Dalit youth, targetted Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao. “Whose money is this,” he asked referring to the Chief Minister’s announcement to spend Rs 1,000 crore on the ‘Dalit Bandhu’ scheme, under which each Dalit beneficiary family will get Rs 10 lakh.

He remarked that if the Chief Minister really loves Dalits, he should sell his assets and spend the money on their welfare, noting that the money which he claims to be spending on ‘Dalit Bandhu’ was given by Dalits and tribals through irrigation.

“Today is truly a BIG DAY in my life as I am going to join Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with the blessings of Behenji Kum. Mayawati and National Coordinator Sri. Ramji Gautham. Please bless me, stand by my side and guide me all through in this exciting journey ahead,” Praveen Kumar tweeted earlier in the day.

In a surprising move, the 1995 IPS batch officer on July 19 announced voluntary retirement from service.

Praveen Kumar has been the secretary of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) and the Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TTWREIS) for the last seven years.

As the TSWREIS Secretary, he played an instrumental role in uplifting and empowering students from underprivileged communities.

“I shall use the rest of my life to fulfill the unfinished dreams of doyens of social justice, Mahatma Phule couple, Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar, Manyawar Shri Kanshiram, and many more torchbearers of our country. I sincerely pray to you all to bless and guide me as I start this new phase of my journey,” he had said in his message while announcing his decision to leave the service.