K. Ramachandra Murthy
Noted actor and former Congress spokesperson, Khushbu Sundar, joining the BJP has not surprised the political observes in Tamil Nadu. Known for her charisma and dynamism, she left the Congress party reluctantly after being neglected by the party leaders in Tamil Nadu and the party high command in Delhi. She listed her reasons to quit the grand old party in a letter sent to party chief Sonia Gandhi. She has been feeling intimidated by leaders in the Congress party not allowing her to function as a State level leader. Khushbu first joined the DMK, then left for the Congress, now joined the saffron party completing a circle. She started with a party that does not believe in God and ended up with a party that performs in politics in the name of God. She is not the first Indian politician to do so nor would she be the last one.
Prepared letter to Sonia in March
Those who are not connected with people are dictating terms to persons like her in the Congress party. She said she prepared the letter to the Congress president way back in March and wanted to hand it over to the party chief personally as she joined the Congress in the presence of Sonia Gandhi. She said she could not meet Sonia Gandhi due to Covid. However, she travelled to Delhi from Chennai, where she lives, to join the BJP in presence of chief of the BJP Tamil Nadu unit L. Murugan, and party’s national secretary C.T. Ravi. A journalist Madan Ravichandran and former Indian Revenue officer Sarvana Kumar from Tamil Nadu have also joined the BJP along with Khushbu.
‘If BJP is anti-Muslim, is Congress anti-Hindu?’
Asked about the religious ideology of the BJP, Khushbu quipped, “If the BJP is anti-Muslim, is the Congress anti-Hindu?” She said BJP has greater clarify in its ideology than the Congress. “As a spokesperson of the Congress party, I used to attack the policies of the BJP. But in the process I started understanding and appreciating the BJP’s policies and farsightedness of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” she said. The people have shown their trust in the prime minister in election after election, she said. “128 crore people trust one man,” she said.
Fought Sangh Parvar on twitter for years
Khushbu has been fighting against the BJP and the Sangh Parivar on twitter for a long time. She has been very active on twitter calling every critic of the Congress an enemy. Agreeing that she flayed Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah besides a host of the BJP leaders, She said she was doing the job of spokes person of an opposition party. She has been a star campaigner, crowd puller and a talented speaker. Khushbu was born to Muslim parents in West Andheri in Mumbai. She was a child artiste. Khushbu became a popular actor in Tamil cinema and settled down in Chennai. She was known for her role as Maniyammai, the life partner of Periyar, in a biographical movie. She used to call herself an atheist although she would not mind visiting places of worship for the sake of politics.
Controversial statement on virginity
Kushbu, popularly called Kushboo in Tamil Nadu, is known for her aggressive nature either in cinema or politics. Even before entering politics she expressed controversial views without fear. In an interview to a Tamil magazine, she wondered why one should be particular that a girl should be virgin at the time of wedding. She had to fight cases filed against her for this comment for more than five years before she was cleared by the Supreme Court in all the two dozen cases.
Known for progressive views
Khushbu was known for her progressive views. Karunanidhi was happy to admit her in the DMK. She worked very hard for the party. She left the Dravidian party when she felt deliberately sidelined by Stalin, son of Karunanidhi. The Congress party had welcomed her into its fold. Elangovan, the party chief of Tamil Nadu unit, made use of her dynamism, charisma and hard work for about two years till he was removed from the top position. She was a star campaigner for DMK-Congress alliance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 2016 Assembly polls. Her campaign was very effective in Southern Tamil Nadu. She said she joined the Congress when its performance in the 2014 was dismal.
AIADMK welcomes Khushbu’s decision
The ruling AIADM has welcomed Khushbu joining the BJP. D. Jayakumar, fisheries minister, said it is a very good step taken by the actor-politician. “Khushbu joining our ally, the BJP, is a good and happy development,” he said. She was with the Congress party for about six years.
Elections to the Tamil Nadu Assembly are due in April-May next year. The AIADMK had already name Chief Minister K. Palaniswami as the future chief ministerial candidate. It was welcomed by the BJP.
‘Congress not a place for women’
On joining the BJP, Khushbu Sundar gave an exclusive interview to Arnab Goswami of Republic TV in which she commented that the Congress party is not the right place for women. “They (the men in Congress) cannot accept a woman giving them orders. They cannot accept a woman who is far more intelligent and successful than them,” she slammed.
