Days before the Telangana elections, Telugu actor-turned-politician Vijayashanthi on Saturday returned to the Congress’ fold after resigning from the BJP. The former BJP MP was formally inducted in the presence of the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at an event in Hyderabad. Soon after her induction, the 57-year-old actor was appointed as the party’s Chief Coordinator of the Campaign and Planning Committee for the November 30 polls by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal.
The decision will be implemented with immediate effect, Venugopal said.
She accused the BJP of failing to initiate action against Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao despite labelling him as “corrupt” and indicated that both the BRS and the saffron party are together.
Addressing reporters in Hyderabad, she said searches were conducted by central agencies such as ED on several leaders but not against Rao.
“We were expecting the Bharatiya Janata Party to act against Mr KCR, but it didn’t… There are raids on so many leaders by ED, CBI. The BJP has taken action against other leaders and why can’t it take action on KCR, the most corrupt person?” she asked, as quoted by PTI.
Telugu cinema veteran Vijayshanti started her political career with the BJP in 1997. She quit the party and joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) during its fight for a separate Telangana state. She was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009, and was elected from Medak Lok Sabha seat on BRS (then TRS) ticket.
Later, due to differences with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, she joined Congress and unsuccessfully contested from the same constituency. She joined the Congress in 2014, just before Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated and Telangana was born.
Vijayashanti has worked in several Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam films. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her work as a female cop in Kartavyam.