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Lok Sabha elections 2014: Raj Babbar looks for more ammo against VK Singh in Ghaziabad constituency

Finding the balance of politics

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He started acting in films in 1977. It's been 34 years since he starred in Padmini Kolhapure's debut film. He is an actor par excellence. But it's indeed a pity that no one remembers him for his roles in 'Nikaah' or 'Umrao Jaan', which are among his numerous movies, or his role as King Bharat in the famous Mahabharata series on TV in the 1980s.

Even the 62-year-old agrees that the mention of his name still brings back to many the memories of his lurid scenes in "Insaaf Ka Tarazu" (balance of justice). But, in political circles, if one were to discuss Raj Babbar, any analyst would immediately point mention the redoubtable challenge he mounted in 1996 against the mighty Atal Behari Vajpayee in Lucknow. Though he lost by over one lakh votes despite polling a whopping 2.76 lakh votes, he made the election the toughest one among the five Atal contested from Lucknow.

Raj Babbar's transformation from an accomplished actor to a sincere, down-to-earth politician with an emotional connect with people wherever he goes, is complete. "My fight is not for power. I am into politics not because I want to gain monetary or other benefits. I am here to fight for the rights of the people. I have taken on the most powerful business lobby, of the Ambanis, and the very powerful political lobby of the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh. My fight for famers is to the finish," he says.

Incidentally, SP is the party which gave him the break in politics by sending him to the Rajya Sabha in 1994. Later, he won Lok Sabha elections from his native place Agra in 1999, 2004 and 2009 (Fatehpur Sikri). The first two times as an SP nominee and the third on a Congress ticket. He left the SP due to his difference with one-time SP "superpower" Amar Singh and joined the Congress in 2008.

This time, he has shifted to Ghaziabad where he is facing a tough challenge from BJP candidate and former Army chief Gen VK Singh. Besides being a new theatre of war for the actor trained at the National School of Drama (NSD), the electoral pitch has turned queer for him as senior local Congress leader SP Goel, who has been denied the ticket, promises to spoil his show behind the scenes. Goel has been MP from Ghaziabad and was the runner-up against Rajnath Singh in 2009. Moreover, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Shazia Ilmi could cut into his Muslim votes.

Though all the three prominent candidates — Raj Babbar, Gen VK Singh and Shazia Ilmi — are "outsiders", the retired Army chief spurns the reference, saying: "It is wrong to say I am an outsider...I am a soldier and every corner of the country is my home."

"The country needs a strong and nationalistic government at the Centre for progress and development to take place in every part of the country including in Ghaziabad. For me, serving the country is most important."

"I am here as a patriotic and disciplined soldier. No one is my opponent. I am contesting this election against poverty, social disparities and the step-motherly treatment meted out to this city."

One of the first Bollywood personalities to enter politics in recent times, Raj Babbar, asked about actors joining politics, says: "I am glad my colleagues are coming into politics. It wasn't me who started this influx from show business. Long before me there were distinguished actors turned parliamentarians like Karunanidhi, MGR, Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalithaa."

Babbar would like to follow the example set by actor-politician Sunil Dutt. "Dutt saab's honesty, integrity and ideological firmness made him a role model for all future mergers between the entertainment industry and politics," he says. "Rajesh Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Jaya Prada, Hema Malini…these personalities from cinema have proved there's more to show business than just show," he remarks.

Babbar presently represents Ferozabad which he won by defeating Mulayam Singh Yadav's 'bahu' Dimple in a fiercely contested by-poll in 2009. The seat had been vacated by Akhilesh Yadav.

Babbar will be stationed in Ghaziabad until elections. His sons Aarya and Prateik are expected to join him for the election campaign soon.

Ghaziabad at a glance
Thakur
-- 75,000
Jat -- 75,000
Muslim -- 3.5 lakh
Dalit -- 3.25 lakh
Brahmin -- 3 lakh

2009 result
Rajnath Singh
BJP — 3,59,637
SP Goel Congress — 2,68,956
Amarpal Sharma BSP — 1,80,285
(NB: There were 13 other candidates but none could even touch the 5,000 vote mark.)

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