Suspended DMK member and former AIADMK MLA Radha Ravi has now jumped ship once again – to rejoin ruling party AIADMK in Chennai. On Wednesday before the AIADMK party convened for a meeting at their party headquarters, the controversial actor and former MLA Radha Ravi met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy at his residence in the presence of Minister for Information and Publicity Kadambur Raju, extending his allegiance to the party once again. This meet was confirmed by a press release from the party.
Radha Ravi was suspended by the DMK for derogatory remarks against top actor Nayanthara in March. “Nayanthara acts as a ghost, and then she goes on to act as Sita as well. She acts as Sita! Earlier, to play the role of a goddess, they would look for [someone like] KR Vijaya. Now, anyone can be cast to play a goddess. They can cast someone who you want to pray to when you look at them, they can also cast someone you want to call towards you when you see them!” he said at an event, making a sexually charged comment to slut shame the top actor.
The actor is also known to shift his allegiance between parties time and again. Radha Ravi who used to campaign for DMK previously joined AIADMK in the early 2000s due to a difference of opinion with the DMK leadership. During the 2002 Assembly elections, he was fielded by AIADMK from Saidapet constituency. In the 2006 elections, however, he was not re-nominated. While he rejoined AIADMK in 2010 he remained inactive in the party until he moved back to DMK in 2017.
He was suspended by DMK in March this year. DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan had issued a statement: "Actor Radha Ravi is being temporarily suspended from primary membership of the party and all party posts for breaching party discipline and acting in a manner that brings disrepute to the party.”
Actor Nayanthara who later put out a statement thanked DMK leader MK Stalin for his swift action.
Radha Ravi also faces sexual harassment allegations brought to light by singer Chinmayi during the #MeToo movement. His tenure as President at the Dubbing Union and General Secretary at Nadigar Sangam too have been riddled with controversies.