New Delhi, Jan 22: Days after Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt joined it, the Samajwadi Party has said that it was "in contact" with actor-turned-BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha but the discussions have been "informal".
"Shatrughan Sinha is a faithful leader of the BJP and I don`t think he will go anywhere till his request for a Lok Sabha ticket from Patna Saheb is rejected by his party.
"I am in contact with him on a regular basis. In fact, we spoke today also. However, our discussions have been informal. It does not come under the definition of a political discussion...But possibilities cannot be ruled out," SP general secretary Amar Singh told reporters here.
Singh said that the BJP has "fully exploited" capabilities of actors like Sinha, Hema Malini and Smriti Irani. "If Sinha is seeking a ticket from the BJP, it is his fundamental right. He is not blackmailing BJP. My discussions with him till now have not been political."
Claiming that BJP leader Arun Jaitley has been behind the influx of `star power` into the party`s fold, Singh said, "Now when we have Sanjay Dutt with us, they are complaining.
"They can`t chew the fact that we have managed to bring him into our fold," he said.
‘Dutt comment in line with Indian tradition’
Reacting to the criticism of
Sanjay Dutt`s reported comment that women should not use their
maiden name after marriage, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh
today said that whatever the actor had said was in line with
the Indian tradition.
"Sanjay Dutt did not say anything controversial by
stating the women should use their husband`s surname after
marriage. It was in full compliance with the Indian tradition
and culture," Singh said while speaking to reporters here.
He said that when Dutt made the said statement, he was
only going by the tradition and neither his sister Priya Dutt
nor others should mind this.
Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Choudhury
and some other prominent public figures had criticised Dutt`s
statement.
"Some people are making unnecessary hue and cry over the
issue," he said, adding that "even in Congress, former Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi changed her surname after her marriage
to Feroze Gandhi. Even Sonia Gandhi does not write her name as
Sonia Maino, while Priyanka also addresses herself as Priyanka
Vadra."
Singh said that even Sanjay Dutt`s mother who was a
Muslim, wrote her name as Nargis Dutt when she married Sunil
Dutt.
"When there are so many examples within the Congress and
Dutt`s own family, then what is the harm if he says that his
wife, who too is a Muslim, should write her name as Manyata
Dutt," Singh wondered.
Bureau Report
