Political interests targeting me: Big B

Amitabh Bachchan breaks his silence on the Bofors issue and the Barabanki land deal, reports Saroj Nagi.

Amitabh Bachchan has broken his silence on the Bofors issue, the Barabanki land deal and other controversies he has been embroiled in, hinting that political interests may have been behind his present problems.

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Asked if he fudged records to show himself as a farmer in order to get land in the Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the actor said when he bought land in Bhavna area in Maharashtra, he gave a certificate from the Barabanki district magistrate confirming that the land in UP belonged to him.

"Everything was fine. Two or three years later they suddenly say, no, that certificate is wrong. How does anyone function in a situation like this? So every time there is a change of government, everything that has passed before or any documentation that has been given to you as permission to continue doing your work has to stop,’’ he told CNN-IBN in an interview.

Bachchan denied being targeted because of his ties with anti-Congress leaders like Samajwadi Party (SP) president Mulayam Singh Yadav and party leader Amar Singh.

“You were insisting that this is happening to me because of my association with Amarji. Why do you only relate it today?

And if you relate it today then how would you explain when I was hounded for Bofors… At that time Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister and he was my friend. I’m happy that I fought single-handedly against the government and defeated them,” he said.

Bachchan refused to comment on the Gandhi family he has reportedly fallen out with.

But he ruled out his return to politics.

“I am a misfit in politics. I don’t understand it, so it is a closed chapter for me.”

His disclaimer notwithstanding, Bachchan gave a political answer when asked if he regretted doing the SP ad “UP mein dum hain kyunki jurm yahan kum hain."

“It’s the central government that is convinced of the fact because I merely read what the central government report came out with. And recently, I read that in terms of crime rates, it is Delhi that is the highest (on crime graph). No one talks about Nandigram, the firing in Hyderabad. Why just look at one issue?"