Actress Khushbu Sundar officially joins BJP, quits from Congress

Actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar, who resigned from Congress, joined the BJP on Monday in Delhi. “If the nation has to move forward, then we need somebody like Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the country in the right direction,” she told reporters after joining the BJP. In a letter to party President Sonia Gandhi, Ms. Kushboo said, “I came into the fold of INC at the time when it was at its lowest, being defeated in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. I did not walk in the party for any monetary gains, name or fame. Few elements seated at higher levels within the party, people who have no connectivity with the ground reality or public recognition are dictating terms and people like me who wanted to work for the party sincerely, are being pushed and suppressed.” 

She also extended her thanks to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Khushboo  tendered her resignation from the party and joined BJP in the presence of Tamil Nadu State BJP President L. Murugan and BJP National General Secretary C.T. Ravi.Following this, Pranav Jha, AICC secretary in-charge of Communications announced the dropping of Ms. Kushboo as spokesperson of the party with immediate effect.“Kushboo Sundar is hereby dropped as AICC spokesperson with immediate effect,” said a statement from AICC secretary in-charge of communications Pranav Jha. Khushbu Sundar had first sparked off rumours of a rift with the Congress in July when she backed the Centre’s new National Education Policy. She had even tweeted an apology to party leader Rahul Gandhi for her differing views. Her tweet invited criticism from senior Congress leaders. Khushbu joined the Congress in 2014, having earlier been a member of the DMK from 2010.