Isha Koppikar joined BJP in the presence of Nitin Gadkari.

Bollywood actor Isha Koppikar joined the BJP on Sunday in the presence of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. She has been appointed as the working president of the BJP's women transport wing, news agency ANI reported.

In a tweet, she thanked the party for the "warm welcome" and said she looks forward to "serve the nation".



"I will try my best to fulfill all the responsibilities the party gives me. I will also make sure that I can do all that is in my capacity to serve the country," she said at a Mumbai event.

Ms Koppikar made her Bollywood debut in 2000 in Hrithik Roshan-starrer "Fiza" and the song "Khallas" in Ram Gopal Varma's "Company" got her noticed. She had begun her film career in 1998 with a Tamil Movie. She has also appeared in Telegu, Marathi and Kannada movies.

Earlier, on January 2, veteran actor Moushumi Chatterjee had also joined the ruling BJP. In 2004, she had contested the national election as a Congress candidate in Bengal.

Ms Koppikar's appointment comes a day after a BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya took a jibe at Congress saying, "they want to contest the coming elections by banking on chocolatey faces."

"A Congress leader demands that Kareena Kapoor should be fielded from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat. Sometimes others talk about fielding Salman Khan from Indore," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

He also took a dig at the Congress party for appointing Priyanka Gandhi as a General Secretary and in-charge for the party affairs for eastern Uttar Pradesh, saying: "This shows the dearth of self-confidence in them".

The remark was criticized by Congress and CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury.

Mr Vijayvargiya on Sunday clarified saying he was referring to only actors and not political leaders. "I would like to tell my friends in media that if there is such a statement, then they should cross-check it. I used the term chocolatey face for Bollywood actors. I did not use it for any political leader," he said.