By IANS,
Agra : With the Samajwadi Party throwing its weight behind the Congress-led central government, Hindi film star and Agra MP Raj Babbar is a worried man. Having quit the Samajwadi Party, he was moving towards the Congress, which has now embraced his former party.
Raj Babbar, whose present seat has been declared a reserved constituency for backward classes, was fancying to contest from Fatehpur Sikri in Agra district on Congress ticket.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has announced the candidature of Seema Upadhyaya, wife of state Energy Minister Ramvir Upadhyaya, for this seat.
The film star had revolted in 2006 against the Samajwadi Party, on whose ticket he won the Lok Sabha election in 2004.
He often publicly ridiculed the Samajwadi Party, calling it a party of “goons and (power) brokers” that had lost its socialist moorings. This was when the Samajwadi Party was at war with the Congress.
In the present scenario, it is now believed that the Samajwadi Party and the Congress will go in for seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls, and here the former might want Raj Babbar out of the fray.
Samajwadi Party sources said he would be hounded out of Uttar Pradesh. “We will not let the Congress field him from anywhere,” said an Samajwadi Party leader believed to be close to party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
On his part, Raj Babbar is trying to find ways to solve this thorny issue. He spent Monday evening with Union Minister of State for IT and Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia in Agra.
Raj Babbar, who is putting up a brave face, told reporters Monday evening that he would continue to work for Agra’s development.