Former BJP leader Gayathri Raghuraman joins AIADMK

CHENNAI: A year after quitting the BJP, actor-turned-politician Gayathri Raghuraman on Friday joined the AIADMK party in the presence of the party general secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami.

"AIADMK has been working continuously to fulfil the people's thoughts. The party's paramount importance was reservation (policy) and welfare of the marginalised sections of the society. It stood firm for the upliftment of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes. It served the people of the state for 30 years in the last five decades and earned the respect of the people of the state, " said Gayathri in her social media post after calling on Palaniswami at the latter's camp office in Chennai.

Palaniswami, following the footpath of the revolutionary and charismatic leaders M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, is leading the party, she said and vowed to work hard under the leadership of Palaniswami to take the party on the path of success.

She also thanked people, who supported her during difficult times, and assured that she would not repeat her mistakes.

Gayathri Raghuraman quit the Tamil Nadu unit of the saffron party on January 3 last year and she squarely blamed state BJP president K Annamalai and his supporters for her decision.

It was the fallout of nearly six months of cold-war between Annamalai and her.

She was critical of Annamalai since then and also openly charged that the IPS officer-turned-politician's war room targeted her and indulged in character assassination.