Hyderabad: After months of hiatus, well-known Telugu actress Jayasudha on Thursday joined the YSR Congress Party. The 60-year-old, along with her son Nihar Kapoor, met YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy at his residence here and formally joined the party.

Jayasudha had quit the Congress to join the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2016 but did not remain politically active.

The actress, who played leading role in many films in 1970s and 1980s, was elected to Andhra Pradesh Assembly from Secunderabad constituency in 2009. She, however, could not retain the seat in the 2014 elections.

Jayasudha told reporters after meeting Jaganmohan Reddy that she would work to strengthen the party. She stressed her close relation with Andhra Pradesh but said she had no plans to contest the elections. "YS Jagan will be the next chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and I will work according to party guidelines. I’m really happy to join YSRCP and it's like coming back home."

She recalled that she joined politics under the guidance of Jaganmohan Reddy's father and then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

The southern state's 175 assembly constituencies and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies will be up for polls soon.

5 things to know about Jayasudha:

  • Jayasudha is the granddaughter of eminent scholar and literary historian, Nidudavolu Venkatarao and Gidugu Krishna Murthy.

  • Her first marriage was with famous cinema producer Vadde Ramesh’s brother-in-law, Rajendra Prasad, in Vijayawada.

  • After her first marriage ending in a sour note, she later tied the knot with Nitin Kapoor, cousin to actor Jeetendra in 1985 and had two children, sons Nihar and Shreayan.

  • The actress has featured in over 320 films, and has the distinction of having 24 film releases in a single year.

  • She received the Filmfare Best Actress Award (Telugu) for the films – Jyothi (1976, Aame Katha (1977), Gruhapravesam (1982).