The Hindu : National : Lucknow is my home: Sanjay

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Wednesday, Apr 01, 2009
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Lucknow is my home: Sanjay

Atiq Khan

LUCKNOW: Actor Sanjay Dutt put his best foot forward after being disqualified from contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the prestigious Lucknow seat when he said that “Lucknow is my home and I will never leave the city.”

He added that he would support the Samajwadi Party candidate.

Mr. Dutt, who remained billeted in his Gomtinagar residence for almost the whole day on Tuesday, finally broke his silence in the evening.

Reiterating his faith in the judiciary, a visibly dejected actor said he respected the verdict of the apex court and would continue to support SP president Mulayam Singh and general secretary Amar Singh.

“They have supported me and I will continue to support them,” Mr. Dutt told journalists outside his residence.

His candidature as the SP candidate from Lucknow was announced by Mr. Amar Singh even as his party and the Congress were supposedly engaged in seat-sharing talks in Uttar Pradesh.

On January 17, 2009, the actor reached the erstwhile Nawabi city and the former capital of Oudh, to launch his high-profile campaign.

Accompanying him were his wife, Manyata, Mr. Amar Singh, Jaya Bachchan, Jayaprada and Bhojpuri film star and SP nominee from Gorakhpur, Manoj Tiwari.

The actor, who won accolades for essaying the role of Munnabhai in Lage Raho Munnabhai, had said at a press conference that Gandhigiri would be his poll agenda. Since then, the actor has been regularly going to Lucknow, visiting temples, dargahs and meeting people from different walks of life.

Probable names

With Mr. Dutt out of the race, names of several potential candidates have started making rounds of SP circles.

Among those who are said to have thrown their hat in the electoral ring is Rajya Sabha MP Virendra Bhatia. Another section in the party feels that considering the sizeable presence of Muslim voters in the Lucknow Parliamentary constituency, “netaji” (euphemism for Mr. Mulayam Singh) would prefer giving the ticket to someone from the minority community.

The name of former minister, Ashok Bajpai, has been making the rounds even when Mr. Dutt was campaigning in the city. Lucknow also has a domineering presence of Brahmin voters and if the Muslims plus OBCs (mainly Yadavs) are added, Mr. Bajpai could become the hot favourite, sources said.

Notwithstanding the speculations, the final call will be taken by Mr. Mulayam Singh on who will replace Mr. Dutt in the constituency, which has never sent an SP nominee to the Lok Sabha. Actor Raj Babbar and filmmaker Muzaffar Ali of Umrao Jaan fame have tried their luck from Lucknow on SP ticket but lost to sitting MP and the former Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, in 1996 and 1998.

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