Sanjay Dutt Clears The Air, Says Not Joining Any Party, Contesting Polls

Mumbai:

Trashing a wave of speculation, actor Sanjay Dutt today said he is not joining any party or contesting elections and that if he ever decides to do so, he will be the first to announce it. “I would like to put all rumours about me joining politics to rest. I am not joining any party or contesting elections. If I do decide to step into the political arena then I will be the first one to announce it. Please refrain from believing what is being circulated in the news about me as of now,” Mr Dutt said in a post on X today.

I would like to put all rumours about me joining politics to rest. I am not joining any party or contesting elections. If I do decide to step into the political arena then I will be the first one to announce it. Please refrain from believing what is being circulated in the news…

— Sanjay Dutt (@duttsanjay) April 8, 2024

The post comes amid speculation that the 64-year-old actor would be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as a Congress candidate from Haryana’s Karnal. Some reports had claimed that the Congress was planning to field Mr Dutt for the star power advantage in a seat where the BJP has fielded heavyweight leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The BJP won the Karnal seat in the 2014 and 2019 polls. Prior to that, the seat was held by the Congress for two terms.

Sanjay Dutt was convicted in an Arms Act case for possession of illegal weapons procured from accused in the 1993 Bombay blasts. He was sentenced to five years in jail and completed his jail term in 2016.

Mr Dutt has a strong Haryana connection, as his ancestral village is in Yamunanagar district. Earlier, he has come to the state to campaign for Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Singh Chautala.

Sanjay Dutt’s father and actor, the late Sunil Dutt, served multiple terms as a Congress MP and was also a minister in the Manmohan Singh government. His sister Priya Dutt, too, has been a Congress MP. However, both his father and sister have represented Mumbai seats in Lok Sabha.