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Sivaji Ganesan's son, Ramkumar, to join BJP ahead of Tamil Nadu polls
The BJP, which has a minor presence in the state, has been on a recruiting spree.
The late veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan’s son, Ramkumar, will be joining the BJP in Tamil Nadu on Thursday. “I’ll be joining because of Mr Narendra Modi; to strengthen his hand,” Ramkumar, a film producer, told reporters outside Chennai’s BJP office.
The younger son, Prabhu, is an actor.
Sivaji Ganesan had been a DMK sympathiser and later moved to the Congress which appointed him as an MP to the Rajya Sabha. He was also associated with former prime minister VP Singh’s Janata Dal. In 1988, the thespian floated a party Tamilzhaga Munnetra Munnani which failed.
Tamil Nadu Congress’ art wing chairman K Chandrasekhar expressed disappointment with the son’s move to the BJP. “Ramkumar's decision to join the BJP will bring disrepute to Sivaji's fame,” Chandrasekhar said. “Though everyone has the right to join any party, there is a difference in Ramakumar going to the BJP...I was Sivaji Ganesan’s office in-charge when he started the party. So I know that he always wanted to work with secular forces. He always believed that the people of India are Indians first and all religions are equal. I joined the Congress after his demise.”
The BJP, which has a minor presence in the state, has been on a recruiting spree.
Former Congress leader ‘Karate’ Thiagarajan is also likely to join the BJP Thursday in the presence of state leaders.
Congress’ former spokesperson actor-turned-politician S Khushboo joined the BJP in October. More recently, cricket commentator and former spinner L Sivaramakrishnan also joined the party.
