Vijay Kumar said he joined the BJP after being impressed with the party's policies.
Former IPS officer Vijay Kumar and his wife Anupama joined the BJP in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.
Several other leaders and workers from the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, who had recently switched to the BJP, were also inducted into the party at its headquarters in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak.
A 1988-batch IPS officer, Vijay Kumar was UP's acting director general of police from May 2023 to January 2024.
Vijay Kumar said he joined the BJP after being impressed with the party's policies.
"I am impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I have worked with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister (Yogi Adityanath). Impressed by his style of working and the positive atmosphere he has created, I have joined (the BJP). We have joined the party with the aim of social service," Vijay Kumar said.
One has to be open in politics while in the police, there is a distance between the officer and the public, he added.
"This is the minor difference," Vijay Kumar said.
"My style of working was to take people along. I don't think I will face much problem," he added.
Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said the BJP welcomes everyone who joins and stands by them like their family.
"I request that everyone join hands and we will win all 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh," Brajesh Pathak said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)