Sanjay Dutt to seek Vajpayee's blessings before polls

Lucknow, March 15 (IANS) Bollywood star and Samajwadi Party candidate for Lok Sabha poll from Lucknow Sanjay Dutt Sunday said he respects former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee a lot and will seek his blessings before the elections.

'I respect him (Vajpayee) same as my father (Sunil Dutt) used to, and I will definitely seek his blessings (before the elections),' Dutt told reporters Sunday evening at the party office here.

Vajpayee, who had represented Lucknow seat for five successive terms, will not be contesting this time around due to poor health.

Earlier in the day, Dutt participated in a 'Holi Milan Samaroh' at the Lal Baradari in the old city amid jam-packed streets.

When told that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee for the Lucknow seat Lalji Tandon terms him as an 'outsider', Dutt said: 'He (Tandon) is a senior politician and I respect him. My father had started his career here and I also belong to this city.'

When reporters asked him about the prospects of Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh acting in a film, Sanjay Dutt said: 'I do not need to teach him how to act. He is capable enough and if at all this happens, I would direct the film.'

Commenting on the Third Front, Amar Singh said only the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and the Left parties have a secular line of thought.

'All others, be it the BJP, BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) or other constituents of the Third Front, share a common ideology of religious and non-secular politics,' Amar Singh stressed.