Five months after she quit the DMK, actress-turned-politician Khushboo joined the Congress on Wednesday, but neither she nor party leaders could reveal much regarding her role in the party. The 44-year-old actress, who hit national headlines in 2005 with her controversial remark on pre-marital sex, had joined the DMK in 2010 and was a key campaigner for the party in the last assembly and Lok Sabha polls. A source close to Khushboo said when she first thought of entering politics, Congress was her choice. “But influence from her old friends in the film industry drove her to DMK,” he said. Minutes after joining the Congress, Khushboo, too, said she felt “at home”. “My family has always supported Congress..I am now where I always wanted to be,” she told reporters at AICC headquarters in Delhi. “My belief is that Congress is the only party which can do good for the people of India,” she added. Regarding her reasons of joining the Congress, the Mumbai-born actress said: “We grew up watching Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. I have been a member of another party (DMK) but joining the Congress feels like a homecoming. I need not reveal my reasons for quitting the DMK. You know them anyway,” she said. She was probably hinting at her spat with Karunanidhi’s son M K Stalin following an interview in which she had said that “though Karunanidhi has proposed M K Stalin’s name, his elevation as the next (party) leader would happen only after the general council votes”. “There were reports that Stalin shouted at her for that interview. Eventually she faced a ban from party programmes, her house was attacked allegedly by our cadres, and she, who was the party’s spokesperson, gradually withdrew herself from the media,” said a DMK leader. Meanwhile, the state unit of Congress, which is reeling after G K Vasan’s exit, showcased Khushboo's entry. AICC general secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu Mukul Wasnik took her to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and then addressed a press conference. Neither Wasnik nor Khushboo, however, specified what her role will be in the party. “She just joined. We will use her services in whatever manner we can,” Wasnik said. “I am waiting for the party to assign me a task,” said Khushboo. Tamil writer Gnani said Congress aimed to score on Khushboo's popularity. “At a time when the new Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president EVKS Elangovan is rejuvenating the state unit, Khushboo would be a great asset,” he said. With ENS delhi
