NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata party will be fielding top Indian cine stars against prominent leaders of the Congress-I and Janata Dal in the coming general elections a party spokesman Sunday said.

The spokesman said the party had already approved the candidature of Mithun Chakravorty is likely to contest the east Delhi seat against AICC-I general Secretary H K L Bhagat.

Another cine personality to contest on a BJP ticket is Manoj Kumar the spokesman said adding that the constituency for Kumar was yet to be decided.

A Muslim youth leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will also contest on a BJP ticket most probably from Kishanganj (in Bihar) the seat held by Congress-I spokesman M J Akbar. The Muslim leader Syed Shahabuddin is also likely to stand for the poll from this seat.

The party’s election committee has announced the candidature of all sitting MPs from Delhi seeking re-election.

They are L K Advani (New Delhi) Madan Lal Khurana (South Delhi) V K Malhotra (Sadar) and Kalka Das (Karol Bagh reserved constituency).

Satish Chand Khandelwal who lost the Chandni Chowk seat to the Congress-I’s Jaiprakash Aggarwal in the 1989 polls will not be given the ticket this time the spokesman said.

He said Charti Lal Goel former deputy mayor of Delhi Gauri Shankar Moondhra former cooperator or Mange Ram Garg a businessman were the likely candidates for this seat.

From outer Delhi Sahib Singh Verma would be fielded against the DPCC-I general Secretary Sajjan Kumar.

NEW DELHI: Film actor Victor Banerjee Friday joined the rightwing pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata party after quitting the Congress-I.

Banerjee who starred in David Lean’s “Passage to India” told newsmen he joined the party because he felt the BJP had character and integrity that I would like to

He announced he would be contesting the northwest Calcutta parliamentary seat in the coming elections and said he did not quit Congress-I for fear of not getting the party ticket this time

He believed that only the BJP and the communist party of India (Marxist) had integrity but there was no chance of his joining the Marxists. I believe in doing right things and that’s why I am in BJP he added.

He said Marxism was a great philosophy and it had served its purpose and it should go now.

He said the BJP was yet to fully establish itself in west Bengal and his endeavor would be to strengthen BJP’s roots in the state.

SHIMLA: About 1100 polling booths in four parliamentary constituencies in Himachal Pradesh have been identified as “sensitive” and special security arrangements would be made there during polling next month the chief state electoral officer Aur Singh has said.

He said these booths had been identified on the basis of the composition of the area and past record.

Going by past record no caste or communal violence was feared during the elections hence no separate polling booths had been set up for minorities Harijans or women he said.

Singh said efforts were being made to ensure that the voters would not have to trek more than two kms to cast their vote.

Article extracted from this publication >> April 19, 1991