Bengaluru: Former Police Commissioner of Bengaluru city, Bhaskar Rao joined Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in New Delhi today.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia welcomed former cop to the party fold.

Mr. Rao has recently taken voluntary retirement, He served as Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Railways.

After joining the AAP, Mr. Rao said that “ I'm very impressed with the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, looking at the admin of Delhi in last 6-7 yrs. My mission is to bring the good governance of Arvind Kejriwal to south India, especially in Bengaluru. There's no dearth of anything but quality leadership in Karnataka”, he said

“Hearty welcome to Shri Bhaskar Rao. The man who has served and handled many administrative challenges across the length and breadth of Karnataka as an honoured IPS officer joins new age politics to fight corruption and maladministration in the state”, AAP, Karnataka unit President Prithvi Reddy tweeted.

Before joining AAP, Mr. Rao had posted on social media about his resignation from the police service. "Last trip home after curtains down of 32 years in IPS. I have extreme gratitude to my family, the people of Karnataka and all my colleagues, friends, elders and young people in my life and finally the Governments of Karnataka across parties. Heading into choppy seas," he had tweeted.

Sources in AAP maintained that Mr. Rao will contest from Bengaluru in 2023 Assembly elections. Meanwhile, AAP is trying to make inroads in Bengaluru. The party was bolstered by its victory in the Punjab state elections last month.