Date:27/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/27/stories/2007042707491200.htm

National

"Only the BJP can help U.P."

Atiq Khan

LUCKNOW: Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament and actor Hemamalini said on Thursday that like the film industry, politics was also male-dominated but women were slowly making an impact.

On an election tour of Uttar Pradesh to campaign for the BJP, she defended her party in fielding women candidates in the election. The actor said she was comfortable both in films and politics. Whereas films were a professional medium, politics belonged more in the realm of social work, which enabled her to communicate directly with the people, she said.

Reacting to Amitabh Bachchan's ad on TV for the Samajwadi Party, she said in Uttar Pradesh there was acute shortage of drinking water and power. The BJP, she said, would get an absolute majority in the elections.

She said poverty was the biggest problem facing U.P. and the common man was in great distress. Only the BJP would be able to lessen the sufferings of the people.

She admitted that people flocked to her election meetings because of her star status, but added that what mattered was the impact she was able to create among them in the interests of the BJP.