Telugu actor-turned-politician Vijayashanti joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday after meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on December 6. She resigned from the Congress last week after feeling "sidelined" in the party.
"Vijayashanti worked a lot in Telangana but the state Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao sidelined everyone. BJP will definitely win in Telangana Assembly next time. Vijayashanti will be at the forefront for the development of the party in the state," said BJP leader G Vivek Venkataswamy on Sunday.
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54-year-old Vijayashanti has returned to the folds of the party with which she began her political career in 1997. She had quit BJP and joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009. Later, Vijayashanti became a member of the Congress party in 2014.
With this allegiance, Vijayashanti became the third popular star and Congress leader to join the BJP in last few months after Khushbu Sundar from Tamil Nadu. "Today under the leadership of G Kishan Reddy, Vijayashanti ji met home minister Amit Shah. She will formally be inducted into BJP in the presence of BJP chief JP Nadda," party leader G Vivek Venkatswamy told reporters on Sunday.
Who is Vijayashanti
Vijayashanti is known to hold a megastar status in the Telugu film industry, back in the 80s and 90s. She began her acting career in 1980, playing a leading role in the Tamil film Kallukkul Eeram. She was only 13 then. The former MP was nicknamed "Lady Amitabh" of the industry because of her action films that did well solely on her star power. She has acted in over 186 movies in seven languages in a three-decade-long career. She also won the National Film Award in the Best Actress category for Karthavyam in 1991. She has a total of four Nandi Awards and six Filmfare Awards (South). Vijayashanti has also featured in many Hindi movies.
Feature Image Credit: @bandisanjay_bjp/Twitter
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