I was pushed and suppressed in Congress: Khushbu Sundar

CHENNAI: Ending days of speculation, Congress national spokeswoman and actor Khushbu Sundar quit the party and joined the BJP on Monday.
"I have only changed parties but never changed nor disowned my ideology," the actor told reporters in New Delhi after formally joining the BJP. Khushbu said she had criticised and condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP before. "But Modiji is taking India forward in the right direction. Moreover, in the BJP, there are no allegations of corruption," she said, justifying her decision to switch parties.
"I am more of an activist than a politician. I had to criticise the BJP because I was a spokesperson of an opposition party," she said, indicating that she would continue to liberally express her views. She said Tamil Nadu BJP president L Murugan and several other party leaders were well aware of this.
On Monday afternoon, Khushbu received the membership card from BJP general secretary C T Ravi at the party headquarters in New Delhi. Murugan welcomed her along with former Indian Revenue Service officer Saravana Kumar and youtuber Madan Ravichandran, who joined the party too. Later, Khushbu met party national president J P Nadda.
Hours before she joined the BJP, Khushbu, in a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, said she had joined the party at a time when it was at its low, after its defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. She said she did not walk into the party for any monetary gains, name or fame, but functionaries like her who wanted to work sincerely for the party were "pushed and suppressed" in the Congress by "elements" seated at the higher level within the party.
Party insiders said the 50-year-old actor was trying for an audience with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for more than a month to air her grievance, but in vain. This has forced her to shift to the BJP. TNCC president K S Alagiri said she would "regret" her decision. Though she was honoured with a posting of national spokesperson, she was merely like "a droplet on a Lotus", the PCC chief said, adding that she was not looked at as a leader and her resignation did not have any impact on the party.
For the BJP's state unit, it was nearly a month-long exercise. Kushbhu's husband Sundar met Murugan at the latter's house in mid-September and the plan to bring Khushbu onboard was set in the motion.
"It is an immense pleasure to take a step forward and became a part of the BJP today. Over a period of time, I come to an understanding that the nation should move forward. For that, we need somebody like Narendra Modi to take the country in the right direction," she said after joining the party.
"I am completely at the service of the BJP and I promise to do my best to discharge the responsibility given to me and ensure the party's victory in the upcoming elections," she said, adding, "I am here like the millions of people of this country, who have great hopes in the BJP under the esteemed leadership of the PM. I will work like any other worker to the best of my abilities."