Sasikala Pushpa, a Rajya Sabha member who was expelled from the AIADMK, and whose term in Parliament will end in April, joined the BJP in New Delhi on Sunday.
She was welcomed by BJP leaders P. Muralidhar Rao and Pon. Radhakrishnan during a press conference at the party’s headquarters. Mr. Rao described Ms. Pushpa as a “very aggressive and very vocal leader in Tamil Nadu”.
He added that her induction into the party will strengthen it ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly election in 2021.
Ms. Pushpa had earlier served as the Mayor of Thoothukudi and the chief of the AIADMK’s women’s wing.
“Issues facing fishermen were resolved only after the BJP came to power. The BJP is the only party that can address such problems. That is why I have joined the BJP,” Ms. Pushpa said.
In 2016, after she slapped DMK Rajya Sabha member Tiruchi Siva at the Delhi airport, then AIADMK leader and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa summoned Ms. Pushpa and admonished her. It was learnt that the CM had asked her to resign as a Rajya Sabha member.
However, in the Rajya Sabha, Ms. Pushpa claimed that a senior AIADMK leader had slapped her, and her life was under threat. She alleged that she was being compelled to resign as an RS member. She also moved the Delhi High Court, seeking protection and claiming that she had been receiving death threats.
