Signature campaign against Sanjay Dutt in Lucknow

April 6th, 2009 MUMBAI - Congress leader Priya Dutt stopped over at the Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai today ahead of filing her nominations for the North Central Mumbai constituency. She won the same seat in 2004.

April 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Sunday announced Nafisa Ali as its candidate from the Lucknow parliamentary constituency for upcoming general elections. Nafisa will replace actor Sanjay Dutt, who was denied permission to contest the Lok Sabha polls by the Supreme Court.

March 31st, 2009 LUCKNOW - All the major political outfits in Uttar Pradesh, including the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court's order refusing to stay the conviction of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, Samajwadi Party's (SP) Lok Sabha candidate for Lucknow. 'Our party knew the fate of Sanjay Dutt,' BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra told reporters.

March 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt Tuesday took on the Congress-led government, saying it had opposed him in the Supreme Court, which had refused to suspend his conviction in a criminal case and allow him to contest the polls. Dutt, who flew to Delhi from Lucknow after the apex court's order, told reporters: 'I don't want to accuse anyone, but just want to say that if anyone opposed (me) it is (the) government.' Flanked by Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, the actor said: 'I will not leave Lucknow and will campaign for the Samajwadi Party throughout the country.' He said he was happy that the apex court exonerated him of the charges under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).

March 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress party Saturday said it would not field a candidate against Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt if he contested from Lucknow. 'If Sanjay Dutt contests from Lucknow, we will not put up a candidate against him,' Digvijay Singh, Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, told reporters here in response to a question.

March 24th, 2009 MUMBAI - Sanjay Dutt took some time out from campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Lucknow to fly to Mumbai and shoot a song for Soham Shah's 'Luck'. Taking a short break from shooting the song Dutt said: 'This is a commitment I had to fulfil.

March 21st, 2009 MUMBAI - Sanjay Dutt is yet to get the green signal from the Supreme Court to contest the Lok Sabha elections, but many of his friends in Bollywood have already volunteered to campaign for him. Among the leading stars who have already put a sizeable chunk of their time aside to follow Dutt on his campaign trail in Lucknow are Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi and director David Dhawan.

March 16th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Countering the charge of being an outsider in Lucknow, Bollywood star and Samajwadi Party candidate Sanjay Dutt Sunday said he has his roots in this city. Dutt was upset when mediapersons told him that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Lalji Tandon had called him an outsider.

March 16th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Bollywood actor-turned-politician Sanjay Dutt has promised to work for the betterment of the people, if voted to power. Addressing reporters after visiting a temple here, Dutt said that he would follow the footsteps of his father Sunil Dutt.

March 15th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Bollywood star and Samajwadi Party candidate for the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat Sanjay Dutt continued with his election campaign in the state capital Sunday. Dutt, accompanied by party general secretary Amar Singh, visited the Lal Baradari to attend a Holi Milan function and utilised the opportunity to again assert his links with the city.

March 1st, 2009 RANCHI - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj said here Saturday that Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, who will be contesting the Lok Sabha poll from Lucknow on a Samjawadi Party ticket, is not a serious candidate. 'Lalji Tandon (the BJP candidate from Lucknow) is a serious politician and Sanjay Dutt is a non-serious candidate,' Swaraj, who was here to launch the party's election campaign in Chhattisgarh, told reporters.

February 17th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Bollywood star and the Samajwadi Party candidate from Lucknow Sanjay Dutt will meet party workers later Wednesday to formulate strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and interact with various sections of the public. Dutt, who arrived here Tuesday night, will also visit a house in the congested Aminabad locality where his father Sunil Dutt lived for nearly four years till 1951 while he worked with All India Radio.

January 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - If Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt is not qualified to contest the Lok Sabha elections, his wife Manyata could be the Samajwadi Party candidate from Lucknow in his place, party general secretary Amar Singh said here Saturday. 'If Sanjay Dutt is unable to contest the polls, we will request the Dutt family to allow (his wife) Manyata to fight from Lucknow,' Amar Singh told reporters here.

January 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - If Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt is not qualified to contest the Lok Sabha elections, his wife Manyata will be the Samajwadi Party candidate in his place, party general secretary Amar Singh said here Saturday. 'If Sanjay Dutt is unable to contest the polls, we will request the Dutt family to allow (his wife) Manyata to fight from Lucknow,' Amar Singh told reporters here.

January 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bollywood film star Sanjay Dutt will be the Samajwadi Party candidate to contest the next Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow, the party announced here Thursday. Party general secretary Amar Singh told reporters that if Dutt was disallowed from contesting the elections because of the criminal cases against him, the party would move the Election Commission or the Supreme Court.