Ahead of next year’s Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party has roped in Dabangg Salman Khan to give the party a knockout punch against rivals. After expelled leader Amar Singh walked out of the party with all Bollywood stars, including Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt, the SP is confident that the Dabangg actor would alone come heavy on all star powers of rival parties.
The SP had earlier been known to pack glamour power as part of the party’s election campaigns. However, the expulsion of Mr Singh had given a body blow to the party, with a number of Bollywood celebrities severing their ties with the party, which included Sanjay Dutt, Jaya Prada and Jaya Bachchan.
“Salman (Khan) will campaign for us. We do not need any other star. He alone will come heavier on any number of films stars that other parties will bring in,” said a senior SP functionary.
Mr Khan is no stranger to campaigning, as he had campaigned in pervious elections for some of the candidates cutting across party lines. The SP zeroed in on Khan for his “huge” popularity among the youth in UP and also for being a secular face, apart from being a Muslim.
“Youth in most parts of the state identify themselves with the Dabangg image of Salman. He will not only pull crowd at rallies and road shows, but also swing voters,” added the SP functionary.
Khan’s portrayal of his character in the hugely successful Dabangg had touched a chord with youth in eastern and central UP, said the SP functionary.
The SP leaders had rued the fact that the daughter-in-law of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ms Dimple Yadav, lost the Firozabad Lok Sabha byelection for not having matched the “glamour power” unleashed by the victorious Congress candidate, Raj Babbar.
With Salman giving the glamour punch, SP UP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who is criss-crossing the state on a yatra, is pinning hope on the fact that youth in the state could turn the fortune of the party for better in the 2012 state polls.