After a prolonged political hibernation, the glamour star of yesteryears and former MP from Telangana M Vijayashanthi is back into the limelight with the ruling Congress nominating her to the Telangana Legislative Council under the MLAs’ quota.
Vijayashanthi, known in film circles as ‘Lady Amitabh’ for her gutsy roles in action thrillers that dominated the industry in the 1980s, has had a rollercoaster ride in politics, shifting from one political party to another with remarkable ease.
Known for her fiery speeches, she has been in and out of parties across the political spectrum— Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
In the run-up to the assembly elections in November 2023, she switched over from BJP to Congress in the presence of the party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
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As is her wont, she disappeared from the public eye soon after, an act that she has mastered over years.
However, she recently resurfaced in Delhi to remind the grand old party of its promise to give her a seat in the Legislative Council.
Readily obliging, the Congress announced her nomination to the Upper House.
While Vijayashanthi is undoubtedly a powerful speaker, her contributions to the Congress have not exactly been noteworthy. She tends to make public appearances only around election time and then conveniently slips into a shell. Now that she is heading to the
Legislative Council, Congress leaders are hoping for some fireworks.
“I have always worked for the Congress. Even in the 2023 Assembly elections, I campaigned. But in a party, there is a system — I can’t just speak whenever I feel like it. I talk when I am asked to talk. The high command believes I can take on the opposition BRS, and I will definitely do it,” she said.
Vijayashanti began her political career with the BJP in 1998 and was made secretary of the BJP Mahila Morcha. When the Telangana movement reached its peak, she quit the BJP and floated her own regional party “Talli Telangana” but could not sustain it for long.
She merged her party with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the previous avatar of BRS, in 2009 and got elected to the Lok Sabha from Medak parliamentary constituency. Subsequently, she quit the party following differences with the leadership and joined the Congress in 2014.
The Congress made her a star campaigner for the 2018 Assembly elections. Just when people thought she had found her final political destination, another twist came along.
She crossed over to the BJP in 2000, only to take a U-turn and rejoin Congress in 2023.
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