The assertion by Mallu Ravi, a senior Congress leader and Vice President of the Telangana Congress committee, regarding her joining the party has heightened anticipation. It is expected that she will formally join the Congress either tomorrow or within the next two days.
Published Nov 11, 2023 | 8:27 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 11, 2023 | 9:49 PM
A 2018 photo of the Telangana Assembly polls where Vijayashanti was leading the campaign. (X)
Is actor-turned-politician Vijayashanti all set to abandon the BJP rejoin the Congress party — just days ahead of the Telangana Assembly election?
Currently a special invitee to the National Executive Council of the BJP, the former Medak MP from the TRS (now BRS) had visibly distanced herself from party activities in recent months. Her name was also absent from the BJP candidates as well as campaigners list for the 30 November state elections.
Mallu Ravi, a senior Congress leader and vice-president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), said on Saturday, 11 November, that she would soon be resigning from the BJP and returning to the Congress fold.
“There is a political transformation happening in Telangana; and as far as I know, many people, including key leaders like Vijayashanti, are joining the Congress,” Mallu Ravi said at a news conference.
However, later in the day, Vijayashanti — who was at the airport to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi — refused to confirm she was joining the Congress.
When reporters persisted with questions about the rumour that she was quitting the BJP, she said: “Today, there is a Modi meeting, and I have come here to receive him. Please understand by this.”
Asked whether she would be participating in Modi’s rally, she said she would not be attending. “Others are attending the meeting… I have just come here to receive PM Modi,” she said.
All has not been well between Vijayashanti and the BJP for some time now. She has been absent from party meetings and also skipped rallies by Union Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Earlier, at an event to welcome G Kishan Reddy as the state chief of the party when he took over from Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Vijayashanti left the meeting at the BJP headquarters in a huff.
She cited “discomfort” over the presence at the event of individuals who suppressed the Telangana movement, indirectly referring to former unified Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who recently joined the BJP.
Since then, Vijayashanti has rarely been visible in party activities. Despite the election in just three weeks, she has not participated in any party meetings.
Since rumours of her joining Congress surfaced, there has been a political debate on her potential impact.
Political pundits believe that her joining in the Congress would strengthen the trend of inflow to the party, and the star campaigner’s image will further enhance the Congress’s standing in rural areas.
Also, this will dent the BJP which is currently losing its key leaders to the Congress and the BRS.
In 1997, Vijayashanti, then referred to as South India’s “Lady Amitabh Bachchan” for her action-packed roles, started her political journey with the BJP, and was soon made general secretary in the party’s women’s wing.
In the 1999 general elections, she was nominated as the BJP’s candidate for the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency, where she was fielded to contest against then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. However, she withdrew from the race when Sonia decided moved to Bellary in Karnataka.
In 2005, amid the growing agitation for a separate Telangana state, Vijayashanti quit the BJP and floated her own Talli Telangana party that advocated for statehood. Later, she merged her party with the TRS (now BRS) and secured a Lok Sabha seat from Medak in 2009.
When the party hesitated to field her again, differences emerged between Vijayashanti and BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao, leading to her suspension for “anti-party activities”.
Joining the Congress in 2014, she contested and lost from the Medak Assembly constituency. After nearly three years in exile, she resurfaced in 2017, expressing commitment to the success of the Congress in Telangana.
However, in 2020, she parted ways with the Congress and joined the BJP.
Now, three years later, she is set to rejoin the Congress, and campaign for the Assembly elections and likely contest the 2024 parliamentary election.
