The presence of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who was recently released from Pune central prison after serving his sentence in the 1993 serial blasts case, at a BJP function at Dindoshi in north Mumbai on Sunday night, set tongues wagging in the State political circles on Monday. Both the Congress and Shiv Sena leaders slammed the BJP for inviting the “Munna Bhai MBBS” actor to the function.
Donning an orange Maharashtrian ‘pagdi’ at the function organised by his friend and BJP leader Mohit Kambhoj on the occasion of “Maharashtra day”, 56-year-old Sanjay pledged not only to do anything for his friend (Manoj) but also reportedly said that the BJP seats in the state “must increase”, a statement has hitherto not been denied by the actor.
The controversy over Sanjay’s presence at the BJP function should be seen in the context of the fact that he is the son of late actor-politician Sunil Dutt and a five-time Congress MP from Mumbai and late actress Nargis Dutt, who had also been a Rajya Sabha MP. His sister Priya Dutt-Roncon is the Congress’ former MP. She had represented Congress for two terms in lok Sabha from November 2005 to April 2014. Dutts have been very close to the Nehru-Gandhi family for decades now.
Coming down heavily on the BJP for inviting Sanjay Sunday’s function, Congress’ Mumbai spokesperson Nizamuddin Raeen said, “There is nothing bizarre in this. Giving and taking protection from such elements has been in the DNA of the party. This had to happen one day”.
Hitting out at the BJP for inviting Sanjay to its party function, Sena leader and Mumbai’s former Mayor Sunil Prabhu said, “Had they (BJP leaders) loved Maharashtra truly, then they would not have even thought of inviting Dutt to the event.” Prabhu had incidentally trounced Kamboj in the 2014 Assembly polls.
Expressing surprise over Sanjay’s presence at the BJP function, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “Dutt’s parents Sunil Dutt, mother Nargis Dutt and sister Priya Dutt have been staunch Congress loyalists who stood by the party through all odds, but why and under what circumstances, Sanjay Dutt shifted his loyalty, only he knows”.
On their part, both Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar and Kamboj did not see anything wrong in their party inviting Sanjay to the function.
While Shelar said that Sanjay had attended Maharashtra day celebrations organised by Kamboj in the past and the issue should not be seen in the political context, Kamboj justified his decision to invite his friend and actor to the function. “I have known Sanjay Dutt for a long time. I had sought permission from the party leaders before inviting him to the function. I do not see there is anything wrong on my party to invite to Sanjay Dutt for the Maharashtra day function," Kamboj said.
This is not for the first time that Sanjay has shared platforms or hob-nobbed with non-Congress leaders. In 2009, after his conviction by the TADA court, the actor had joined the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi party, but chose to quit the party after Amar Singh fell out with the SP chief. Sanjay, whose father Sunil Dutt had excellent relations with late Sena chief Bal Thackeray, had also flirted with the Sena at one stage.
leaders from the non-BJP parties are looking at Sunjay’s sudden proximity with the BJP in the context of the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections scheduled for early 2017. They also see the BJP’s move to invite Sanjay to its function as a U-turn in the context of the fact it was not long ago that its leaders had gone to town debunking the previous Congress-NCP government for favouring the actor through frequent paroles and furloughs during the course of his incarceration at Pune’s Yerwada prison, from where he was released in February this year.