Chennai: Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan, who on Sunday was appointed the Governor of Telangana, is a rare example of a leader who made it to the top through hard work without depending on the political stature of family members.
Born to staunch nationalist and Congressman Kumari Ananthan, who has served the national party since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru, Tamilisai charted her own course in politics joining the BJP, whose ideology is poles apart from that of the Congress.
A qualified doctor, she had often said that the BJP's Hindutva ideology had drawn her to the party, which to this day has little base in the Dravidian state of Tamil Nadu.
“For the party, I had to leave my father but I did not give up on my principles,” Tamilisai told journalists on Sunday soon after news of the gubernatorial assignment given to her.
Joining the BJP as an ordinary cadre, she wove her way up the ladder working meticulously putting in long hours of hard work. Initially, she was given a post in the party's state medical wing.
By Dravida Thambi
