Actor Sanjay Dutt confirmed on Friday that he would contest the Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket.
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Asked whether he had consulted his sisters, he said he was the eldest and didn’t find the need to consult anybody. Earlier in the week, his sister Priya had told Hindustan Times that she was disappointed with Sanjay’s decision, accusing his wife Maanyata of pushing him into politics.
Sanjay said Priya had denied making the comment. “I forgive her… She must have said it in anger… Arguments happen in every family,” Sanjay said. He added: “Maanyata is Maanyata Dutt… If there is a Mr and Mrs Dutt in Pali Hill, it’s me and Maanyata.”
As for whether he is legally allowed to contest elections since he is a convict in the 1993 serial blasts case, Sanjay said his legal advisors believed there was no problem.
On reports that if Sanjay can’t contest, then Maanyata would, SP general secretary Amar Singh said: “Someone asked me, ‘If not Sanjay, then who?’ I joked, that when Lalu couldn’t contest, he got Rabri to do so — in this case, it’ll be Maanyata.”