Former police officer Kiran Bedi, an integral part of Team Anna, the anti-corruption movement that gave birth to the Aam Aadmi Party, on Thursday announced her decision to contest the forthcoming Delhi assembly elections on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket.

Bedi was welcomed into the party at an event in the BJP headquarters in Delhi on Thursday attended by party president Amit Shah, finance minister Arun Jaitley and science minister Dr Harshvardhan.

In a press release, the BJP said that it would "get new strength with the joining of former IPS officer and the face of anti corruption movement in India". Bedi listed out some of the reasons she had thrown in her lot with the party.

Bedi's former colleagues in the Anna Hazare movement purported to be unmoved by her gesture. Bedi had a falling out with them over their decision to form a political party.