Casino King Chikoti Praveen set to join BJP

Entrepreneur-cum-Casino King Chikoti Praveen, who earned infamy for organizing casino tours in Nepal, is all set to join the BJP. He will formally join the party on Tuesday and is said to be preparing to contest from either LB Nagar or Zaheerabad. He is said to be preparing ground in both the places.

Chikoti Praveen, who is well-known as a realtor, was later arrested for organizing Casino tours for politicians, film stars and businessmen in Telangana. He was also arrested once for maintaining a private zoo in contravention of law. However, he has always been a strong supporter of the Hindu cause and is also known to be running an organization called Dharma Raksha.

Sources say that he is planning to contest from LB Nagar assembly constituency if given a party ticket. At the same time, he is said to be preparing ground to contest for the Lok Sabha from Zaheerabad constituency. A strong Hindutva support base and proximity to Karnataka are being seen as factors favouring the BJP.

Sources also say that son of former minister Ajmera Chandulal, Prahlad Naik, will also join the BJP along with Chikoti Praveen. Naik is from the Lambada ST community and is said to have considerable hold on the tribal votes. Similarly, Praveen is from the trader community and s likely to sway the trader community votes.