Controversial actor Radha Ravi made BJP's state executive member from Chennai

Radha Ravi, who suspended from DMK for his distasteful comments against actor Nayanthara in March 2019, joined BJP in November 2019.
Controversial actor Radha Ravi made BJP's state executive member from Chennai
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On July 15, actor and politician Radha Ravi was made the state Executive Member by BJP’s Tamil Nadu president, L Murugan. The actor joined the party only in November 2019.

In addition to the 78 existing members, 38 new members were added on July 15. Others who have been added from Chennai include Geetha MGR, M Sivalingam, Praveen MGR, Yogavalli (south), S Radhakrishnan (north), Radhika Guptha, S Shankaran, Rajendrakumar (central), GBS Nagendran (south), YS Kannan (south) and Kalyanaraman.

A source from the party told TNM that the state Executive Member position comes last in the line of the state party’s power hierarchy. Starting with the President, General Secretaries, Vice Presidents and followed by the Secretaries and Treasurer the Executive Members form the last rung in the BJP state team. The party already had 21 members from Chennai.

Just six months prior to joining BJP, Radha Ravi had jumped ship from DMK to join the state’s ruling party AIADMK. Radha Ravi was suspended from DMK for his distasteful comments against actor Nayanthara in March last year. At an audio launch, Radha Ravi had made sexist comments and slut-shammed the actor, leading to a huge controversy that forced DMK to respond. The party said in its statement that it would be temporarily suspending Radha Ravi for “breaching party discipline and acting in a manner that brought disrepute to the party.”

Radha Ravi has also been accused of sexual harassment by women from the film industry, brought to light by singer Chinmayi and is known for his derogatory remarks against female actors. On Radha Ravi's appointment, Chinmayi shared a series of tweets on the accusations he faced and on how he has forced her out from the Dubbing Union for standing up with these women. "I have been banned by Mr Radha Ravi for sharing these on Twitter and also because of the Mr Vairamuthu allegations. He has single handedly arm twisted and his cronies harass people to not hire me," Chinmayi tweeted, questioning his appointment by the party.

Radha Ravi holds the post of Dubbing Artistes Union’s President and has been accused of running it like a mafia. His tenure in another Tamil film body called Nadigar Sangam, too, was riddled with controversies over fund misappropriation.

The 67-year-old actor is the son of yesteryear actor and politician MR Radha. While his father was part of DMK, on his part, Radha Ravi is known for swinging between the two Dravidian parties - DMK and AIADMK - from time to time.

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