Sanjay Dutt enters politics

It was a surprise announcement from Samajwadi Party on Thursday when it came out that Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt would be its candidate from Lucknow for the Lok Sabha elections “subject to clearance by the Supreme Court and the Election Commission.” Mr. Dutt, who had been sentenced by the High Court under the Arms Act, would be the party’s star campaigner in the elections.

Announcing the party’s first list of 29 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections after a meeting of the Central Parliamentary Board here on Thursday, party general secretary Amar Singh said, “Like a BJP MP, who is a known cricketer, was allowed to contest despite being convicted, we too will try our best to field Sanjay Dutt. If we fail, he will certainly be our star campaigner.”

He also claimed that Sanjay Dutt had agreed to contest. “Dutt told me you are like my elder brother. He said he would do anything I ask him to though he said he was not a political person,” Singh said.

Mr. Singh also said that recently the United Nations made him their global ambassador on malnutrition. “Since we are an ally of the Congress and Sanjay’s sister Priya is a Congress MP, we hope the party would be happy.”