Congress Sushmita Dev slams Kushboo's allegations; says 'No suppression, only opportunity'

Hitting out at newly-joined BJP leader Kushboo Sunder, Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev on Monday, listed out the eight women spokespersons in Congress' media cell. Naming Supriya Shrinate, Sharmishtha Mukerjee, Ragini Nayak, Shama Mohamed, Radhika Khera, Szarita Laitphlang, Aishwarya Mahadev and herself, Dev stated that Congress' team was formidable. Refuting Kushboo's allegations of 'suppression', she said there were ample opportunities in the grand old party.

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Sushmita Dev: 'No suppression in Congress'

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Kushboo quits Congress, joins BJP

Earlier in the day, Sundar jumped ship from Congress to BJP, joining the saffron party in the presence of TamilNadu BJP President L Murugan, National General Secretary C T Ravi and spokesperson Sambit Patra. The veteran actress who has been Congress spokesperson for six years, met BJP chief JP Nadda along with journalist Madan Ravichandran and ex-civil servant Saravanan Kumaran, who also joined BJP.  This development comes months ahead of Tamil nadu state polls.

On Sunday, Sundar had written a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi stating, "Few elements seated at a higher level within the party, people who have no connectivity with the ground reality or public recognition are dictating terms, while people like me who wanted to work for the party sincerely, are being pushed and suppressed". The Congress removed her from the position of All India Congress Committee spokesperson with “immediate effect” after she submitted her resignation letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi.

Reacting to her departure, ahead of the Tamil Nadu state polls,  Congress state chief KS Alagiri tweeted, "There is no loss to the Congress as Khushbu is leaving the Congress. Khushboo was not invited by the BJP, she is going to BJP on her own. She did not act according to party values when she was with us".

Kushboo Sundar pledges allegiance to BJP; venerates PM Modi after quitting Congress

Kushboo's political career

Kushboo had started her political career in May 2010 by joining DMK. She campaigned for the party in the 2011 assembly elections and again in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections after which she quit saying her work was not recognized. She joined Congress in November 2014 and thereafter had held the post as the party's spokeswoman.

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