The faction-ridden BJP in Kerala got a shot in the arm on Wednesday as R Sreelekha, the first lady IPS officer in the State joined the party as a member. This is the first time Sreelekha, a former director general of police and muti-faceted personality, getting associated with a political party.

K Surendran, president of Kerala BJP, called on Sreelekha at her Thiruvananthapuram residence and handed over the membership card. “There is no special agenda behind me joining the BJP other than helping the party to grow in Kerala. I am really impressed and awe-struck by the leafdership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the social and economic development made by the country since 2014,” Sreelekha told media persons after becoming a  member of the BJP.

She said she had been thinking seriously about joining the party for the last three weeks and Wednesday’s decision was the culmination of this introspection. Sreelekha, retired from the IPS in 2020 after 33 years of service and since then she is actively engaged in writing on various issues with special focus on problems encountered by women. Her reminiscences “Sreelekha, With Love”, a video channel in YouTube has a vast viewership among Malayalees spread across the globe.

An alumnus of the elite Institute of English, University of Kerala, Sreelekha has successfully completed post-graduate courses from various international colleges like London Business School, King’s College and Scotland Yard.

Thomas Jacob, IPS officer and former DGP had joined the BJP in 2019 but he is not active in the party as on date because of the cold shouldering by the State leadership.