Danseuse Mallika Sarabhai had announced that she would contest the election against the BJP's prime ministerial candidate LK Advani from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat.
She said that she would be contesting the election as an independent candidate but would not mind if the Congress offered her support. "I am a people's candidate and I stand for them".
The renowned dancer said that she her desire to enter into the political field was because of the degeneration of politicians and the politics of divisiveness. Sarabhai said that her plank was inclusiveness and she would fight the politics of hatred and corruption.
The daughter of Vikram Sarabhai, a towering figure in Indian space programme, Mallika has acted in movies. She had been booked for various charges when she raised her voice against the persecution of minorities, especially Muslims, in Gujarat.
After the Godhra riots, Sarabhai had denounced the role of Narendra Modi-led BJP government. She says that Congress had offered her ticket for the Assembly elections several times in the past but she felt that now she had to fight the Parliamentary elections.
TIH Bureau
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