Congress' former Andhra Pradesh unit chief, Dharmpuri Srinivas on Wednesday joined the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao welcomed Srinivas into the party fold.
Some Congress leaders from Nizamabad district and followers of Srinivas also joined the TRS at a function held at Telangana Bhavan, the party headquarters.
Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter and Nizamabad MP K. Kavitha was also present.
Speaking on the occasion, Srinivas said he was joining TRS to strengthen the leadership of Chandrasekhar Rao to achieve 'bangaru' (golden) Telangana.
Stating that the TRS chief and Congress president Sonia Gandhi have huge respect for each other, the veteran leader said he would not blame or criticise anybody.
Srinivas recalled his three-decade long association with KCR, as Chandrasekhar Rao is popularly known, and lauded the role played by the latter in formation of the Telangana state.
Welcoming Srinivas into TRS, KCR, who is also the party chief, said the former Congress leader never bothered about posts. He revealed he took Srinivas' advice on many occasions during the Telangana movement.
Srinivas, who twice served as the chief of Congress party in undivided Andhra Pradesh, last week resigned from the party, with which he was associated for over four decades.
He had said that the decision to leave the Congress was highly painful.
