Thode idhar… thode udhar…

CONGRESS roped in filmstars Celina Jaitley, Namrata Shirodkar, Moushumi Chatterjee, Zeenat Aman, Sharad Kapoor and comedian Asrani on Friday...

CONGRESS roped in filmstars Celina Jaitley, Namrata Shirodkar, Moushumi Chatterjee, Zeenat Aman, Sharad Kapoor and comedian Asrani on Friday. While Chatterjee joined the party, the rest announced that they would campaign for the party in the Lok Sabha polls.

They, except Chatterjee, made it clear that they had not joined the party. Soon after their announcement, Moushumi, who has acted in both Bengali and Hindi movies, joined the Congress by signing the enrolment form before media glare.

While expressing support for the Congress, Asrani repeated his dialogues of super hit film Sholay. ‘‘Thode idhar jao, thode udhar jao and baki Congress ke peeche aao,’’ Asrani said, evoking laughter from journalists.

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Seventies’ star Zeenat Aman asserted that she believed in a ‘‘secular India’’. She said she came from a true secular family as her mother is a Brahmin and father a Muslim.

BJP Sharad Joshi, leader of an organisation that fought for the cause of farmers in Maharashtra and outside, joined BJP on Friday. Filmstar and former Miss World Yukta Mookhey also became a party member. Joshi, who rose to prominence in the 1980s through his Shetkari Sangathana, joined BJP in the presence of party general secretary Pramod Mahajan, who said his decision would have a major impact in the politics of Maharashtra specifically and elsewhere in the country. Of late, Joshi was heading the Swatantra Bharat Party.

Also count in….

KOLKATA: Former soccer star Shyam Thapa joined the BJP on Friday. Thapa, who began his football career in Gorkha Brigade in the late sixties and played for several leading clubs like Mafatlal, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan besides India, said he was impressed by the work of the NDA Government under the leadership of Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee.

SHIMLA: Former minister and Himachal Vikas MLA Ram Lal Markandafrom the tribal district of Lahul and Spiti, on Friday joined the BJP. Announcing that Markanda had been admitted to the party, state party president Suresh Bhardwaj said talks were also on with the former minister and leader of Himachal Lok Tantrik Morcha Mohinder Singh for a pre-poll alliance.