Khushbu's exit: Zero impact on the ground in TN, says Congress

AICC in-charge of Tamil Nadu, Dinesh Gundu Rao, said she has been criticising the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi till a week ago.

Joining BJP which she had been criticising, for some positions suggests that Khushbu has no ideological commitment, he said amid reports that she would embrace the J P Nadda-led party. "It is unfortunate that she is doing this. It will not have any impact on Tamil Nadu politics," Rao told P T I.

The Congress is reorganising and overhauling the outfit in Tamil Nadu and preparing for Assembly elections, slated next year, he said. "We will not be sidetracked from that, by all these issues (Khushbu leaving the party)," Rao said.

Khushbu's decision would have no impact on the ground in Tamil Nadu, he said, adding, media may play up the issue for a couple of days since she is an actor and the matter would then die down. "It will have no impact, zero impact", he said.

The BJP would not gain by her entry as there is a "big anti-BJP feeling" in Tamil Nadu, Rao alleged. Khushbu could be joining the BJP for "some other reasons, not just politics", he said, adding, he does not want to elaborate on this comment.

Khushbu who was Congress national spokesperson, on Monday resigned from the primary membership of the party protesting against what she called some leaders "dictating terms" and "suppressing" her. The party, meanwhile, announced in Delhi that Khushbu has been dropped from her post of All India Congress Committee spokesperson with "immediate effect." A popular Tamil actor, she was with the DMK before joining the Congress in 2014.