She also alleged that many BJP leaders are supporting Alagappan and actively helping him abscond from justice.
"It is shattering to realize that there is a complete lack of support and, moreover, that several senior members of the BJP have been enabling Alagappan in dodging justice," said Gautami. (Supplied)
Actor-turned-politician Gautami Tadimalla, on Monday, 23 October, quit her primary membership in the BJP, alleging that several senior BJP leaders have been actively helping and supporting the person who has betrayed and cheated her.
In a statement, Gautami stated that, with a very heavy heart and deep disillusionment, she has taken the decision to resign her “membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party”, which she joined 25 years ago.
“Even through all the challenges I have faced in my life, I have honoured that commitment. Yet today, I stand at an unimaginable crisis point in my life and find that not only do I not have any support from the party and leaders, but it has also come to my knowledge that several amongst them have been actively helping and supporting the very person who has betrayed my trust and cheated me of my life earnings,” Gautami said in her statement.
Gautami alleged in her statement, “I have worked my entire life so that I can be financially secure at this age, as well as provide for my daughter’s future. I am at the point where my daughter and I should have been settled, safe, and secure, and yet I found to my horror that C Alagappan has swindled me of my money, property, and documents.”
A journey of 25 yrs comes to a conclusion today. My resignation letter. @JPNadda @annamalai_k @BJP4India @BJP4TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/NzHCkIzEfD
— Gautami Tadimalla (@gautamitads) October 23, 2023
The actor recalled that Alagappan, a builder, had approached her around 20 years ago in the guise of helping her.
“Seeing my vulnerability and isolation, as I was not only an orphan who had just lost both my parents, but also a single mother with an infant child. He insinuated himself and his family into my life under the guise of a caring elder person. It was in this situation around 20 years ago that I entrusted him with the sale and documents of several of my lands, and it was just recently that I discovered he had defrauded me of the same; all while pretending to welcome me and my daughter as a part of his family,” she further stated.
She also stated that she filed “a series of complaints with complete trust in my Chief Minister, my police department, and my judicial system” but found that the process has been “inexplicably dragging” on.
Stating that though an assurance was given to her to contest in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the assurance was rescinded at the last minute, yet she remained loyal and committed to the party.
“It is shattering to realise that there is a complete lack of support and, moreover, that several senior members of the BJP have been enabling Alagappan in dodging justice and absconding since the last 40 days, even after the FIRs have been filed,” the actor said in her statement.
Gautami ended her statement saying that she is fighting for justice for herself and her child’s future as a lone woman and a single parent. “However, I still have hope that my Chief Minister, my police department and my judicial system will prevail and give me the justice that I seek,” she said.
When Gautami was at the peak of her career in the South Indian film industry, her mother T Vasundhara Devi had bought 46 acres in Sriperumbudur.
She married a businessman in 1998 but they divorced a year later. At the age of 35, the actor was diagnosed with breast cancer. At this point, Alagappan, who was a builder by profession, approached the actor and Alagappan’s family won her trust.
He further assured the actor that he would help her in selling her properties. Believing this, in 2004, according to Gautami, she gave Alagappan power of attorney to process the properties for sale. For years, Alagappan and his family dodged Gautami, saying that they are waiting for the right person to sell the land.
Later, when Gautami approached Alagappan to return the power of attorney, Alagappan refused.
On 11 September, 2023, Gautami lodged a complaint with the Chennai City Police stating that Alagappan and his family had prepared forged documents, using the signature they obtained in blank documents while transferring the power of attorney and had misappropriated funds and properties worth ₹25 crore.
In the complaint, she said that she came to know that they prepared documents as if Alagappan and his wife Nachal were the owners of her land.
“When I tried to get back my properties, Alagappan and his family threatened me and my daughter,” she claimed and sought action.
Soon after the complaint was lodged by the actor, Alagappan, who is residing in Velachery in the city, absconded with his family. Sources also said that a few BJP senior leaders tried to pacify Gautami in support of the builder.
Though the petition has been forwarded to the Cybercrime Wing, there was an FIR registered on the complaint of the actor only after a few days.
On Monday, after Gautami’s resignation, the police acted on the FIR against six people, including Alagappan’s son and daughter-in-law, and stated that they had formed a special team to trace the absconding builder and his family.
Speaking to reporters in Coimbatore, Vanathi Srinivasan, the national president of the BJP’s Women’s Wing said that she was pained to hear about the resignation of the actor.
“Neither I nor the state president Annamalai was aware of the problems that Gautami was facing. If we had known it, we would have sorted it. Ten days back, Gautami’s PA approached me stating that the actor had some issues and needed help. I asked him to get back to me with more details but he hasn’t approached me after that,” the BJP leader said.
She also questioned why the police were inactive for so many days and registered the FIR after Gautami’s resignation.
Sources close to Gautami told South First that the actor had tried contacting Annamalai, but he hadn’t answered her phone calls.
L Murugan, the Union minister of state for information and broadcasting, while speaking to reporters, said that Gautami’s work for the party is appreciated. He added that he came to know about her resignation only through the news. He also assured that a proper inquiry would be conducted about her resignation.
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