Payal Ghosh has entered politics. The actress has joined Union Minister Ramdas Athawale's Republican Party of India (A) on Monday, as per a report by ANI. Payal was seen alongside the Union Minister holding the party flag in the office in a picture posted to Twitter by the news agency. She will be at the helm of the women's wing of RPI as the vice president. "I thank her for joining the party and I welcome her," Athawale said. Mayawati Playing Politics Over Hathras Incident, Has No Right to Demand UP CM's Resignation, Says Union Minister Ramdas Athawale.

In the past, RPI's women's wing has been led by Rakhi Sawant. Rakhi was appointed the president of the wing in June 2014. "Sawant will go ahead of Mayawati as she is more powerful" Athawale had said praising the actress six years ago.

Payal, whose presence on social media makes headlines, has not posted about her new political journey on Twitter at the time of writing this. Let us see what happens on this front with Ghosh's entry. Payal Ghosh Distributes Sanitisers, Masks to the Needy Along with Indian Flags Ahead of Independence Day 2020.

In April 2017, RPI's women's wing led by secretary Sheela Gangurde objected to a condom ad featuring Sunny Leone. Calling the ad "bad practice to the Indian audiences, hurting their moral ethos, ethics, religious and spiritual values", the party demanded the ad be pulled down.

More recently, Ramdas Athawale has extended support to Kangana Ranaut in her row with Maharashtra government, Shiv Sena, as her office space was demolished by the BMC. He had offered the Manikarnika actress the opportunity to join the party as well, which she had politely turned down.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 26, 2020 03:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).