India Election 2019: Dharmendra and Hema Malini campaign in Mathura.
Actor and BJP lawmaker Hema Malini today campaigned in her parliamentary constituency, Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh with her husband and seasoned actor Dharmendra by her side.
The popular Bollywood couple addressed a rally for the Jat community where a massive crowd turned up. Addressing the crowd, Dharmendra recalled how his humble beginnings helped him become a successful actor. "I am the son of a farmer and I have worked very hard in the fields when I was young," he said.
Dharmendra had a brief political stint, about ten years ago, when he contested the 2004 national elections from Rajasthan's Bikaner on BJP ticket and won.
Raising the poll pitch in Mathura, where the BJP has won four out of six Lok Sabha elections since 1991, Dharmendra told the crowd: "Gao walon, (Hema ji ke liye) vote karna. Nahi to kisi aas paas ki tanki pe chad jaunga aur wahan mausi ko pukarunga. Bahut mausiyan aa jayengi. (Dear villagers, please vote for Hema Malini ji. Else, I will climb on one of the tanks and give a shout out to Mausi ji. I am sure a lot of them will come)."
He reminded the crowd of the iconic scene from the movie, "Sholay", where Hema Malini starred with her husband and played the role of "Basanti", a village girl.
On Dharmendra campaigning for her, Hema Malini said she was excited to have her husband by her side. "With just two days remaining for the poll campaign to end in Mathura, people are excited to see me and him together. People have seen both of us together in so many movies. We are seeking votes for Mathura's development," she told reporters.
Before the rally, she tweeted a picture of two of them together and said it was a "special day".
"Today is also a special day for me! Dharam ji is here in Mathura to campaign for a whole day on my behalf. The public is waiting eagerly to get a glimpse of him & listen to what he has to say! A photo taken in my house in Mathura just now before we leave for campaigning..(sic)," she wrote.
Photos of Hema Malini's poll campaign, who is seeking re-election from Mathura, have been causing much buzz on stocial media but she has also been trolled by opposition leaders like National Conference's Omar Abdullah.
Amid criticism, she has defended her election campaign, and also her record as a parliamentarian, saying she has worked extensively for Mathura in five years and visited the city over 250 times.
The ruling BJP won 20 of 23 Lok Sabha seats in western Uttar Pradesh in 2014. Eight seats in the region voted in the first phase, and another eight seats, including Mathura, vote in the second phase on April 18.