Actor Kushboo to meet Sonia Gandhi, likely to join Congress

CHENNAI: Actor Kushboo, who quit the DMK soon after the Lok Sabha elections, is likely to join the Congress on Wednesday evening.

Party sources said the actor, who is in New Delhi now, got an appointment with AICC president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi at 5pm on Wednesday and is likely to formally join the Congress.

When TOI contacted, Kushboo refused to comment on it. She said, "I will let you know if there is any concrete development."

The development comes in the wake of speculation that she was inclined to join the BJP. However, the actor had dismissed rumours about joining the saffron party in a tweet a couple of days ago.

Talking to TOI, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president E V K S Elangovan said, "We will get a clear picture [of Kushboo joining the party ] only in the evening."

It is interesting that the timing of Kushboo's likely induction into the Congress comes on a day when rebel leader G K Vasan unveiled the flag of his new party. Vasan quit the Congress on November 4 accusing the leadership of not respecting Tamil sentiments and state leaders like K Kamaraj and his father G K Moopanar.

Kushboo had quit the DMK following disagreements with M K Stalin, DMK chief M Karunanidhi's son. Hostility between the two had been simmering for a while after Kushboo joined the DMK in May 2010 ahead of the 2011 assembly election.

She was a key campaigner for the DMK both in the assembly and the last Lok Sabha elections. While she had the backing of Karunanidhi, there were a few instances of open hostility between her and Stalin supporters, which led to her resignation from the party's primary membership.