Telangana: Jayasudha, Telugu actor and former MLA on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of state unit chief G Kishan Reddy.
BJP general secretary and Telangana in-charge Tarun Chug welcomed her into the party at a programme held at BJP office in Delhi.
Union Tourism Minister and state BJP president G Kishan Reddy and party's national vice-president DK Aruna were also present.
"...We have to serve this country under the leadership of PM Modi. Today when we go out of India, people talk about India... What we are today is because of PM Modi...," said Jayasudha.
"Today Telugu cinema star joined BJP. She was an MLA in Congress, she resigned from the party and joined BJP... We will definitely become the ruling party in Telangana...," said Telangana BJP President G Kishan Reddy.
Jayasudha joined BJP a few days after Kishan Reddy met her and formally invited her. There had been speculations for the last one year that she is planning to join BJP.
BJP MLA and former minister Eatala Rajender had also met Jayasudha and invited her to join the party. She was reported to have laid certain preconditions before the BJP and conveyed to the party leadership that she will join the party if those preconditions are met.
BJP has reportedly assured to give her the party ticket in Assembly elections due to be held later this year. She is likely to be fielded from Secunderabad Assembly constituency, which she once represented.
The invitation to Jaysudha is part of BJP's efforts to woo leaders from various parties and well-known personalities to its fold to bolster its prospects for 2023 Assembly elections.
The actress, who played leading roles in many films in 1970s and 1980s, had joined politics at the invitation of Congress leader and then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy in 2009.
She was elected to Andhra Pradesh Assembly from Secunderabad constituency in 2009. She, however, could not retain the seat in the 2014 elections. She had quit the Congress to join the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2016 but remained largely inactive in it.
In 2019, she along with her son Nihar Kapoor had joined YSR Congress Party headed by Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, who became Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh the same year.
Jayasudha had stressed her close relation with Andhra Pradesh but had made it clear that she had no plans to contest in elections.
With inputs from IANS
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