|HT|
Union minister Anurag Thakur hit back at Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Jayant Chaudary, who claimed Home Minister Amit Shah has been sending feelers to his partymen by promising to make them stars like Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) member of parliament (MP) Hema Malini. To the RLD leader’s remark that he didn’t want to be like Hema Malini, the minister who is also handling the Uttar Pradesh campaign, said that the actor-turned-Mathura MP was elected based on her capabilities. Speaking to the press, Anurag Thakur said, “Not once, but many times she (Hema Malini) was elected to Parliament with the public’s blessings. It is true he cannot become Hema Malini. He does not have the people’s blessing.”
On Tuesday, while campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, Chaudhary stirred a controversy when he claimed that Amit Shah told a party colleague, Yogesh Chaudhary, that he will make him Hema Malini if he joins the BJP. “I don’t want to be Hema Malini,’’ Chaudhary said at a public meeting, “I don’t know why they are saying all these things to me. It’s not like they have any love for me. What have you done for the people? What have you done for the 700 farmers and their families? Why is Teni (Ajay Mishra) still a minister? Every day, they wake up and start stirring hate and they have no other work.’’ The attack on Chaudhary comes after Shah sent feelers to him at a meeting of Jat leaders in the capital. While Chaudhary’s RLD has tied up with Samajwadi party to fight elections in Uttar Pradesh, the union minister said that Chaudhary had chosen the wrong side. The party said that they were open to post poll alliances but Chaudhary said that it was not an option for him.
(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)