Rahul Gandhi's ex-aide Divya Spandana makes huge comeback announcement, but with a twist

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's former aide Divya Spandana aka Ramya has announced her comeback - although not in politics, but in cinema. The Kannada actor has announced her return to the industry, three years after her sudden 'break' from politics.

Ramya returns to cinema as film producer

On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, Ramya took to Twitter to inform her followers that she will be making her debut as a film producer, under her boutique production house AppleBox Studios, which makes theatrical films as well as OTT and web series. Divya Spandana revealed that she is currently producing two films that will be distributed by Karthik Gowda and Yogi G Raj of KRG Studios.

“If you’re wondering what an apple box is, it is a small wooden box - most humble & inconspicuous, but very useful on a film set,” Ramya explained, adding, “The apple box has been my constant companion throughout my journey in films. When we didn’t have chairs on sets or if a little height was required for the camera or actors the apple box was always there to me it was the simplicity of the equipment that inspired me and hence the name.”

Ramya said she is very excited about both these projects.

Divya Spandana's political stint

Divya Spandana quit films in 2012 to join the Congress party as a member of its youth wing. She later won a 2013 by-election to become a Member of Parliament for the Mandya constituency in Karnataka but lost the general elections the following year.

A close associate of Rahul Gandhi, Spandana made headlines when she bagged the seat of national head of Congress' digital team, replacing veteran Deepender Singh Hooda. However, in 2019, Ramya stepped down from the post suddenly, announcing a 'break' from politics.

Since then, the actress has only been actively posting about films and meeting people from the industry. On August 30, Divya shared a teaser on social media about taking the plunge and returning to the Kannada cinema. Weeks before that, she had levelled serious allegations of the Congress party in Karnataka for running a campaign against her.

In a string of tweets in May, Ramya alleged that she was being trolled and abused by several party members in Karnataka ever since her reaction to Congress head DK Shivakumar's statement.

Divya Spandana slams Karnataka Congress leaders

DK Shivakumar had claimed that Karnataka High Education Minister CN Ashwathnarayan met Congress leader MB Patil, 'seeking protection' from the recruitment scam. In response Spandana, had tweeted, "People across parties meet each other, go to functions, some even get married into families — I’m surprised DK Shivakumar would say this about MB Patil who’s a staunch congressman. Shouldn’t the party be fighting elections as one unit?."

Days later, she posted a series of screengrabs, with the caption, "So the ‘office’ has circulated these messages among the congress leaders and volunteers asking them troll me."

The messages shared by her and the alleged online abuse spoke volumes of her sudden disappearance as the national decades-old social media head.