Congress Nominates ‘Lady Amitabh’ As Star Poll Campaigner In Telangana, Draws Ire Of Its Regional Leaders

The Congress High Command move to appoint multi-lingual actor and “Lady Amitabh” Vijayashanthi as its star campaigner for the upcoming State Assembly elections in Telangana has upset many Congress leaders. Malayalam daily Manorama reported that several leaders in the grand old party are sulking and have dubbed the move as an unwise one.

Also called “Lady Superstar”, Vijayashanthi had been in oblivion until recently, before Congress decided to make her its star campaigner. For film buffs in the late 1980s and 1990s, the actor was known for her aggressive roles, one of which - Kartavyam -fetched her the national award for best actress in 1991. Though the actor, who has acted in nearly 200 movies, has appeared as heroines with then stars like Chiranjeevi, Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan, she had managed to hold her own.

Vijayashanthi’s initial foray into politics was with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1998 and her first meeting in Nellore was a big draw. However, she left BJP to float her own party, Talli Telangana, in 2009 that was later merged with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS). Just before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, she quit TRS to join Congress but lost in the elections. She then announced that she was quitting politics before the current comeback.

Vijayashanthi’s re-entry is being opposed on the grounds that she no more attracts crowds and isn’t popular among the youth. Her critics also point out that she was all set to take on Sonia Gandhi from Cuddapah constituency in 1999 on a BJP ticket. However, with the Congress deciding to field Gandhi from Bellary constituency, Vijayashanthi didn’t contest the elections.