AICC spokesperson Kushboo faces boycott by party functionaries

Actor-turned politican and Congress national spokesperson Kushboo today faced a boycott by party functionaries and workers here with the local unit office remaining locked.
None of the party functionaries from here turned up when Kushboo arrived this morning for addressing a public meeting organised by Tirunelveli East District unit at Mukkudal, a small town about 20 km from this city.
The Tirunelveli Urban District unit office remained closed and its President Sankarapandian, when contacted, said they had not been informed about Kushboo's visit.
A party leader in Chennai said the embarrassment could have been avoided had she taken the district party leadership into confidence about her visit.

"The district functionaries viewed her visit as a sign of one-upmanship. Though she had tied up with some in a local party unit for the event, there was no word to district leaders," he told PTI.
A national level office-bearer should know the importance of taking local party units into confidence, he said.

The boycott is seen as a sign of discontent among sections of party workers and functionaries over her style of functioning.
Later addressing a press meet at a hotel here, Kushboo, replying to a question about the boycott by the functionaries, said such problems were 'unavoidable' in big parties like Congress.

She came down on the local functionaries accusing them of working against the party.
"I came here to attend the public meeting at Mukkudal organised by the Tirunelveli East District Unit with the permission of the state party unit," she said.
On the Union budget, she said it "lacked proper policies and schemes" and would not help improve the living standards of the poor.