CHENNAI: Actor-turned-politician Kushboo Sundar said the appeasement politics prevailing in the Congress and the "bubble around Rahul Gandhi" was what led her to join the BJP. She also said that she expects Rahul Gandhi to wake up to the growing discontent among party functionaries.
During an e-expressions chat with The New Indian Express' Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla and senior journalist and author Kaveree Bamzai, Kushboo echoed the saying 'there are no permanent friends or foes' in politics to justify her move from the Congress to BJP.
The politician reiterated that her resignation letter to AICC President Sonia Gandhi was ready way back in February, but she could not meet her to hand over the letter in person.
Kushboo declined to name the persons who were 'pushing and suppressing' her in the Congress, something that she had referred to in her resignation letter to Sonia. "It was not one person who did that to me. Whether it is at the state level or national level, we have that kind of people. Unfortunately, in Delhi, they have built a bubble. Especially, Rahul Gandhi has built a bubble around himself, and people who are allowed to enter that bubble, they tell him that everything is fine. But the bubble is opaque and not transparent."
She elaborated on what, according to her, is going wrong within the Congress. "When I wrote this letter, it was not me alone. I know there are so many voices within the party who need to speak and they do not have the courage, power or position to move up. From within the party itself, I have had so many calls coming in congratulating me. We really hope that Rahul Gandhi wakes up."
She revealed that though she had said 'No' to the BJP more than once when the party approached her, she later did a lot of rethinking. Kushboo added that her joining the BJP was not even a political move and recounted her experiences in the Congress. "I have been tolerating the nonsense, all kinds of insults, and the way my dignity was questioned. I was losing my respectability. I was tolerating it for four years and I took this up to Rahul Gandhi. Only if you are cleaning the problem at the ground level will the party be strong."
When asked whether her often stinging criticism of the BJP over the past six years will come back to haunt her, she responded, "When I looked back on my statements, my attacks on the BJP and its leaders, my children pointed out and asked, what is wrong with me. When I actually looked back, I was ashamed of myself. When I looked onto my tweets, it was mostly personal attacks and it was unparliamentary and was not in a good sense. That scared me as I was becoming somebody who I am not. I was just trolling on Twitter and I could not oppose for the sake of opposition."
On whether there was a fundamental contradiction between the ideologies of both parties, Kushboo said that the Congress has always blamed the BJP for having a Hindutva agenda. She said, "If the Congress is about secularism, why should they declare the gotra of Rahul Gandhi? So you (Congress) are appeasing the Hindus by giving the details of Rahul Gandhi? You want Hindu votes. Why this hypocritical attitude? You blame one party (BJP) saying it is about Hindutva and about one nation. But here you (Congress) is not only trying to appease minorities but also trying to appease Hindus."
The former Congress spokesperson dared parties that say they are secular-minded to declare they are not bothered about Hindu votes. "Let them say they are happy with the minority and backward classes votes. Are they happy with that? You have to explain what (kind of) Hindu Rahul Gandhi is, which god he prays to, which temple he goes to, and whether he wears a thread around his neck or not. So whom are you trying to appease? It's high time he stops the appeasement politics and hypocritical attitude," she said.
Kushboo went on to add that she did not even consider whether she will gain anything from her decision.
She explained that she came from the DMK and considered former DMK president M Karunanidhi her political mentor. "One thing I learned from him is there's nothing called an enemy party. There's always an opposition party. You are not permanently friends with any political party nor a permanent enemy. Today, we curse someone, then we have an alliance with the same people for the benefit of the state and the people. So, my ideologies and thoughts remain the same and I have just changed the party. My ideology is about the people of the nation, secularism, and the growth of the country. There are no changes in that."
Asked whether she has moved away from her liberal identity, she said, "I, being such a loud noise maker from the opposition, completely take the charges. If liberalism means speaking your mind and taking a stance, then I still do the same. Now there is a sense of relief that I am not part of a hypocritical society that is trying to do appeasement politics and taking people for granted. We still celebrate Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru and Indira Gandhi. We have been brought up from our school days on how it was one party that took the country forward. I am saying I am not here to judge but people have the democratic right to judge me and I am open to criticism."