BJP’s Etawah candidate adds filmy ‘tardka’ to poll campaign

AGRA: The fourth phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) is all set to get a feel of filmy ‘tardka’, with a host of Bollywood stars crisscrossing the dusty roads of western UP to woo the voters for BJP’s Etawah candidate Ram Shankar Katheria.
Though there are at least three Bollywood stars themselves in fray in UP - Hema Malini, Raj Babbar and Jaya Prada - barring Hema’s husband, Dharmendra, no big names have been seen on the campaign trail so far.However, that’s all set to change as big names including Sushmita Sen, Asrani and Ameesha Patel are going to be campaigning for Katheria.
Actor Asrani, who arrived in Etawah on Saturday, campaigned for Katheria, and will continue to do so for the next few days. Two Bollywood stars who have been invited for campaigning are Sushmita Sen and Ameesha Patel. Sushmita will be campaigning in Etawah and Ameesha in Auraiya district, said Jitendra Gaur, party’s media incharge from Etawah.
During the campaigning in Etawah, Asrani enthralled the audience with his famous dialogue from his movie Sholay with a little tweak: “29 April ko vote do varna tumko jail me dal dunga.”
The veteran actor addressed public at nukkad sabhas at various places in Etawah by saying that he is not a politician and doesn’t come here for politicians, but he was impressed with Katheria’s style of working. Asrani praised the Modi government’s policy of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’. On public demand, Asrani uttered his old dialogue several times: “Hum angrezo ke jamane ke jailor hai… ahhaa.”
Talking to TOI, Katheria, who is contesting against Congress’s Ashok Dohre and Kamlesh Katheria of the Samajwadi Party, said, “This is just to fulfill the demand of workers and public of my constituency, who wanted to see these movie stars.” Though he admitted that film stars attract a lot of people and create enthusiasm, he was non-committal when asked whether their presence would impact voters in his favour.