Who is Khushbu Sundar? Why did the former Bollywood actor-turned-politician leave Congress for BJP?

Tamil Nadu actress-politician Khushbu Sundar dumped the Congress and joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). This shift in alliances marks her third political party move.

Sundar was a member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) from 2010 to 2014 before joining Congress.

The political player was recently in news for her support of the Modi government's New Education Policy 2020. This did however cause some friction in the Cogress ranks because she had expressed a thought opposing the party’s official stance. Later, she apologized to party leader Rahul Gandhi for the move. But since then she’s also said that she would "rather speak the fact than be a head nodding robot or a puppet."

Khushbu Sundar, whose real name is Khushboo Khan, was born in 1970. She began her career as a child actor, finding success in movies such as ‘Thodisi Bewafaii’, ‘Laawaris’ and ‘Kaalia’.

Her power-packed performances won her many plaudits. One of her best acts was that of a 12-year-old cancer-stricken patient in ‘Dard ka Rishta’. She also has to her credit dance number ‘Bol Baby Bol, Rock and Roll’ in ‘Meri Jung’ alongside a young Javed Jaffrey.

As she grew older, she lost favour in Bollywood and decided to take on a new challenge – the Tamil movie industry, where she found great success .

There was a Khushboo idli and the Khushboo sari. Her fans were so crazy about her that they built her a temple in Tiruchirapalli! However, this temple was demolished after she made comment about pre-marital sex and AIDS in 2005.

Finally, the actress decided to venture into politics, joining DMK in 2010, only to exit it in 2014. The same year, she took membership in Congress. 9 As for what’s made her quit Congress now – it seems conjecture at best, but experts posit that she was sidelined too many times.

According to media reports, a senior BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, said she would be the party’s star campaigner in Tamil Nadu. “A winnable MLA seat can make her an MLA… or even a Rajya Sabha MP post when the time comes.” Her presence could be invaluable in the state.