The Hindu : Poonam Dhillon joins BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 04, 2004

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National

Poonam Dhillon joins BJP

By Neena Vyas

Film actress Poonam Dhillon with the senior BJP leader, Pramod Mahajan, in New Delhi on Wednesday, after she joined the BJP. - Photo : Shanker Chakravarty

NEW DELHI, MARCH 3. The Bollywood actress of yesteryear, Poonam Dhillon, who had joined the Congress a couple of years ago, today joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. She indicated her willingness to contest a Lok Sabha seat "if the party wished."

"Every person has the right to change his or her mind,'' she said as cameras flashed to capture her smile. "I wasn't that politically aware then (when she joined the Congress), but now I am socially and politically conscious... I am impressed by BJP leaders and admired their behaviour,'' she said. And when asked how her joining the party came about, her response was she had not approached the BJP, "I was approached indirectly.''

***

The general secretary of the BJP, Pramod Mahajan, climbed atop the bus parked in the BJP central office compound and freshly painted in the party's saffron and green colours with the lotus emblem painted in neat rows all along the top. "It will have an internet connection ... when Advaniji travels in this he will be able to receive a fax ... there will be two sofas and a table and chairs where he can talk to journalists and others... '' Mr. Mahajan said, as television crew fought with each other to "catch" the picture, cameras clicked, and print media journalists took copious notes.

"CD, VCD, DVD will all be there, he can watch a film while he travels... ,'' added Mr. Mahajan enthusiastically, and of course, the bus has a hydraulic lift which would take Mr. Advani to the top of the bus from where he can stand and address the crowds.

The senior BJP leaders, Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, launching the "Bharat Uday Yatra" bus at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday. - Photo: Shanker Chakravarty.

The driver — a remarkable look-alike of BJP Chhattisgarh leader, Dilip Singh Judev, complete with the famous moustaches, considering that the same bus was used by him earlier - sat behind the wheel, and additional party spokesperson, Prakash Javadekar, who will be accompanying the Deputy Prime Minister on the 8,000-kilometre-long journey, stood in the bus doorway, literally hanging out like a conductor, for the benefit of cameramen.

***

The BJP's tele-campaign began in right earnest today with the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, calling the unsuspecting mobile telephone subscribers to deliver his one-minute election speech. In a nutshell, it was all about India Shining, the new highways, the number of telephone connections given and so on.

Many have been literally bombarded with SMS messages too — on India's defence expenditure having gone up as national security was a priority for the Vajpayee Government, on the record food grain production, on zooming exports and so on.

***

Mr. Mahajan explained: a Rs. 100-crore budget for the India Shining campaign was in fact passed by Parliament in last year's Union Budget under the head "India Development Initiative." It was now up to the Government to make available the papers and accounts related to the campaign as demanded by the High Court, he added.

His estimate was that Rs. 65 crores had been spent on the campaign so far.

A journalist asked Mr. Mahajan: Why does Mr. Advani need to travel 8,000 kilometres by road to convey the message to the people that India was Shining and they, the people, were feeling good. Had the Rs. 100-crore campaign failed to convey the message? Mr. Mahajan's response: "That was a very good question. I am answering in the American style. When a question cannot be answered the Americans say: that is a very good question."

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