Bollywood actor Govinda seems set for a political comeback and may contest the 2024 general elections. According to sources, he is likely to join Eknath Shinde’s faction of the Shiv Sena party in Maharashtra and run for the hotly contested North-West Mumbai parliamentary seat. This would pit him against the candidate from Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, Amol Kirtikar. Govinda recently met with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai to discuss the matter.
This was the second meeting between Govinda and Shinde within a week. Last Wednesday, Krishna Hegde from Shinde’s camp had gone to Govinda’s home to speak with the popular actor. Govinda joining Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena marks the start of the second chapter of his political career after a gap of almost sixteen years. He had won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai North constituency on a Congress ticket, defeating senior BJP leader Ram Naik. However, he resigned in 2008 to focus on his acting career.
After Govinda’s meeting with Shinde, NCP leader Jayant Patil took a jibe saying Shinde should have approached a currently popular actor, not someone like Govinda. He remarked that Shinde seems unaware of who the good actors are nowadays. “He is not popular actor. Eknath Shinde should have taken actor who has popularity. Should have taken good actor. I think Eknath Shinde does not watch movies. If he would be watching movies he would know better actor,” said Patil. In 2004, Govinda won the Mumbai North seat for Congress against senior BJP leader Ram Naik. But he left politics and did not contest the 2009 elections.
The Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra’s 48 seats will happen in five phases from April 19 to May 20. Results will come on June 4. Both the ruling coalition Mahayuti and opposition MVA are still working out seat sharing. Eknath Shinde is yet to finalize arrangements with BJP and NCP’s Ajit Pawar faction. Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray’s announcement of Shiv Sena candidates for 17 seats has upset Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP.
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