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Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
Congress politicians seeking tickets for the Uttar Pradesh assembly election are annoyed with film star Amitabh Bachchan, accusing him of deserting the party in pursuit of his own interests.
The actor is now close to the Samajwadi Party's general secretary Amar Singh and is perceived to be backing its chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh.
Quite a few aspirants at the party's Akbar Road headquarters in Delhi badmouthed Bachchan when it became certain that the Congress list would not be released on Friday. Party activists said the central election committee was still deciding on the contestants.
"Amitabh Bachchan ka Samajwadi Party mein jana Mir Jaffer waali baat ho gayee [Bachchan's crossing over to the Samajwadi Party is akin to the treachery of Mir Jaffer (who betrayed Bengal at Plassey, 1757)]," hissed Sudarshan Singh, who hopes to contest from Rae Bareli.
"Amitabh deserted the Congress for money," said his companion Dhananjay, adding that the Big B had betrayed the trust of the late Rajiv Gandhi, who had introduced him to politics in 1984 by giving him the ticket for the Allahabad Lok Sabha seat. Bachchan won that election handsomely.
Rajendra Verma, who wants to contest from Tehri, said Congress president Sonia Gandhi's refusal to 'accommodate' in the party a couple of persons close to Bachchan led to a rift.
These Congressmen were riled that Bachchan recently shared a platform with Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh. Their resentment grew when that event generated goodwill for the Samajwadi Party in some sections of the state.
According to Ramasre Singh, whose father was a minister in the Narain Dutt Tiwari government almost two decades ago, Bachchan switched loyalties not out of political conviction but because he was "bailed out" of his financial difficulties, when the Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited was on the brink, by Amar Singh.
Ever since, Bachchan, who subsequently regained his superstar status with the success of the television show Kaun Banega Crorepati, has been repaying his debt of gratitude to the Samajwadi Party, Singh contended.
"With Bachchan's endorsement, the Samajwadi Party seems to have hit the jackpot," he admitted ruefully.
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