Mumbai: After declaring 14 years ago that he will have nothing to do with politics, actor and ex-M.P. Govind Arun Ahuja mononymously called Govinda (60) cavorted his way back into public life on Thursday. He joined the Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde (incidentally on Shiv Jayanti day) "because it is a clean party."
Also, he was highly impressed by the development of Maharashtra under the leadership of Shinde and the progress made by the nation under PM Modi. Soon after his induction, there were indications that Raja Babu will contest on its ticket in Mumbai north-west Lok Sabha constituency against Amol Kritikar of the Shiv Sena (UBT).
A piquant situation is prevailing in the constitutency because the sitting M.P. Gajanan Kirtikar belongs to the Shiv Sena (Shinde), while his son Amol is the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate. Sanjay Nirupam of the Congress is extremely keen on contesting from this seat.
But, since the Shiv Sena (UBT) is unwilling to withdraw the nomination of Amol Kirtikar, Nirupam in all probability will quit the Congress and join the BJP after a week. He is already in touch with Ashok Chavan, ex-CM who recently defected to the BJP from the Congress.
The million rupee question being asked in political circles is whether Govinda, who had in the past trounced political heavy weights like Ram Naik of the BJP, would be able to defeat Kirtikar Jr. His earlier track record as M.P. is not much to write home about.
He rarely attended Parliament and even did not fully spend his MPLAD funds. What is worse, he was highly inaccessible to his voters. All these points are certain to be highlighted by the Shiv Sena (UBT) during the campaign. Shinde has fielded Govinda in the fond hope that his star power (the such that is still there) will help him rake in votes specially in slum areas.
According to reports, several Bollywood celebs, including Kareena Kapoor who made a hit pair with Govinda, will campaign for him. There are reports that Govinda may be asked to campaign for the BJP's candidate and Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal in the neighbouring Mumbai north constituency.
This is the second political inning of Govinda who was Congress MP from north Mumbai constituency in 2004 to 2009. He had defeated Ram Naik who was considered strong opposition by 50,000 votes margin. Now, he returned after 14 years of gap in politics. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Said Govinda would be a star campaigner of his party during the election.
While speaking to media Govinda Said "I was MP in 2004 to 2009. when I withdrew from politics I never thought I would come back. My 14 years' 'Vanwas' is over now and ready to fulfill whatever responsibility would be given to him by the party." CM Shinde said Govinda has joined his party "unconditionally."
