Former Union minister from Tamil Nadu S Thirunnavukkarasar, 60, on Monday joined the Congress after resigning from the BJP and the Rajya Sabha. He joined the ruling party in the presence of Home Minister P Chidambaram, AICC in-charge of the state Ghulam Nabi Azad and state PCC president K V Thangabalu.

Thirunnavukkarasar had been associated with M G Ramachandran’s ADMK right from its inception in 1972. He had sided with Jayalalitha during the AIADMK split after MGR’s death and parted company with her to form his own outfit which he merged with the BJP in 2000.

In June 2004, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. He lost the last Lok Sabha elections from the state. Thirunnavakarsar, who belongs to Thevar community, had been an MLA from Aranthangi constituency for six consecutive terms from 1977 to 1999 and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1999.

Thirunnavakarsar said he had quit the BJP as it was becoming “more communal” and had come under the “crutches” of the RSS. Noting that his family had Congress links, he said, “I am a product of MGR and I cannot function in a communal set-up.”