Vijayashanti Joins BJP

NEW DELHI: Actor-turned-politician Vijayashanti on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a party that she chose as her launch pad into politics in 1998 after a successful film career.

Ramulamma as Vijayashanti is popularly known was a very successful Telugu film actress in the 80s and 90s, who also acted in a few Hindi movies. She won a National Award for the Best Actress for her role in Karthavyam, as an honest police officer

She was made the Secretary of the BJP Mahila Morcha when she joined in the 90's and after her launch, she quit the BJP when the Telangana movement reached its peak, and floated her own regional party called Talli Telangana, but could not sustain it for long and merged with the TRS Party in 2009. The merger paid off and she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Medak Parliamentary Constituency and served from 2009-2014.

However, when she was sidelined from the party activities subsequent to  the formation of Telangana in 2014, she resigned from the TRS and joined the Congress and now in the end of 2020 she is back into the saffron fold.

She now asserts that only the BJP can fulfil the aspirations of the people of Telangana.         

On Monday, she met Home Minister Amit Shah earlier and joined the BJP in the presence of its general secretary Arun Singh, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar at the party headquarters here. The 54-year-old politician is also a former MP from Medak, which she won when she was with the TRS party.       

Claiming her association with the movement for Telangana's statehood, she said the ruling TRS had failed to fulfil the people's dreams for the new state and alleged that there was rampant corruption in the government headed by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. She also recalled her earlier stint in the BJP.      

The BJP is confident about its prospects in Telangana with the steady decline in the fortunes of the Congress has also helped the party emerge as the main challenger to the TRS.

Now with the Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly seat falling vacant following the death of incumbent Nomula Narasimhaiah a few days ago, the BJP plans to up its ante now. After being re-energized with its successful performance in the recently conducted GHMC elections where it won 49 seats right after the Dubbaka Assembly win, they are expecting to repeat the performance.

As the Election Commission is constitutionally bound to hold elections for the Assembly seat within six months, the BJP has already begun its groundwork and we might see the actress wielding the mike as the star campaigner shortly.

Watch Vijayashanthi join the BJP on Monday

తెలుగు సినీనటి, మాజీ ఎంపీ, కాంగ్రెస్ నాయకురాలు @vijayashanthi_m గారు నేడు @BJP4India జాతీయ ప్రధానకార్యదర్శి శ్రీ @ArunSinghbjp గారి సమక్షంలో పార్టీ సభ్యత్వం తీసుకున్నారు. అనంతరం విజయశాంతి గారికి పార్టీ కండువా కప్పి వారిని పార్టీలోకి ఆహ్వానించాను. pic.twitter.com/3213dYDTeD

— Bandi Sanjay Kumar (@bandisanjay_bjp) December 7, 2020