Sunil Dutt

'We must stand for the rights of the common people'

After the demise of his wife Nargis, actor Sunil Dutt turned to politics. A loyalist and close friend of the Nehru-Gandhi family, he contested and won four elections from Mumbai Northwest on a Congress ticket.

Dutt wrested the constituency from noted jurist Ram Jethmalani in 1984, then retained it in 1989 and again in 1991. He refused to contest the 1996 Lok Sabha election owing to the arrest and detention of his actor-son Sanjay Dutt under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.

In 1999, he staged a spectacular comeback after four years of self-imposed exile to reclaim the constituency from the Shiv Sena, defeating sitting MP Madhukar Sarpotdar by 80,000 votes.

The philanthropic actor has also started a movement against drug abuse and to improve AIDS awareness. He assists in the management of a school for spastic children.

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