Sonia assures Priya help in Sanjay case

Lok Sabha MP and the sister of Sanjay Dutt calls on Cong president to apprise her of the case, reports Saroj Nagi.

Priya dutt, jailed film star Sanjay Dutt’s sister and Lok Sabha MP, called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday. She had a 15-minute meeting at 10 Janpath. Priya later told newspersons that the Congress president was sympathetic and assured all help in her brother’s case.

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The meeting is significant, as the AICC has refrained from taking a stand on Sanjay’s conviction. The party is divided on the issue.

Priya said they are exploring the “best legal recourse for him”. She indicated a bail application could be filed shortly.

Two Union Ministers, P R Dasmunsi and Kapil Sibal, have publicly supported the actor, a gesture Priya appreciated by calling them up from Mumbai. She even sought advice from Sibal, a noted lawyer.

The two Ministers publicly said the party should stand by the family of late Sunil Dutt who epitomised secularism and national integration and whom Sonia appointed convenor of Sadbhavana ke sipahi. Many Congressmen privately agree.

But AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh saw no reason for the party to make a statement on Sanjay.

“It is not a political issue. We feel sorry and sad (for Sanjay). But I don’t think the party has to make a political statement on it,’’ he said.

When Sanjay was arrested a decade back, the Congress had kept distance while the Shiv Sena had helped.

Meanwhile, at the Yeravada Jail, Sanjay is being given an "aptitude test" to decide what work he should perform in prison, an agency report said on Friday.

“Normally we ask for the preference of prisoners and try to know their aptitude before assigning them daily work,” PTI quoted an unnamed jail source as saying.

The choices include textiles, laundry, baking, paper printing, carpentry and painting, jail sources said.

(With inputs from PTI)