Tamil Nadu: Three-Time MLA Vijayadharani Quits Congress, Joins BJP

Chennai, February 24: In a blow to the Congress, Vijayadharani, a three-time MLA from Vilavancode constituency in southern Tamil Nadu and the party’s whip in the Assembly, on Saturday quit the party and joined the BJP. She was welcomed into the BJP fold in New Delhi by Union Minister of State L Murugan, who hails from Tamil Nadu, in the presence of party’s Tamil Nadu in-charge Arvind Menon.

While her exit from the Congress was expected as she had gone off the party’s radar over the past few days, for the BJP Vijayadharani’s switchover is a big boost as this is the first time, a sitting legislator, just half way through her term, has joined the party in Tamil Nadu.

Vijayadharani shared on X her resignation letter address to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge stating she was resigning from the party’s primary membership and “related posts” held by her in the party. However, she did not spell out if she had sent in her resignation as MLA to the Assembly Speaker as well.

Congress To Seek Vijayadharani's Disqualification From Assembly

Tamil Nadu Congress president K Selvaperunthagai said the party will approach Speaker M Appavu urging him to disqualify her. As per a Supreme Court verdict in the landmark G Viswanathan case, her act of joining the BJP, would attract disqualification under the Representation of People Act.

Vijayadharani had not turned up in the Assembly during the just concluded Budget session and party leaders said they were unable to reach her. At one point she was regarded as a prominent face of the Congress on Tamil television news channels.

However, in recent years she has been maintaining a low profile upset that she was not made the Congress Legislature Party leader in 2021. She had earlier sought a ticket to contest the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat and was upset when she was not fielded there.