BJP's Hema Malini To Contest From Mathura For The Third Time (image-X/dreamgirlhema)Born in 1948 to Jaya Lakshmi and VSR Chakravarti Iyengar in Tamil Nadu, Hema Malini’s journey began with the 1968 film Sapno Ka Saudagar, in which she played a double role opposite the iconic Raj Kapoor. Spanning over five decades, the actress’s Basanti from the 1975 Sholay catapulted her to stardom and into the hearts of Indian audiences. Popularly known as ‘Dream Girl’ in the industry, her acting prowess and dancing skills cemented her name within the Indian film industry.
The Padma Shri awardee’s first brush with politics was in 1999, when she campaigned for actor and BJP candidate Vinod Khanna, who was contesting from Punjab’s Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat. In 2004, the trained Bharatnatyam dancer officially joined the BJP and was nominated by former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam to the Rajya Sabha until 2009. A year later, she served as the general secretary of the BJP.
In 2014, Malini contested the general elections from Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura Lok Sabha seat, defeating Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) Jayant Chaudhary with 53 percent of the votes. She repeated her victory in 2019, securing 60 percent of votes.
The actor-turned-politician has been embroiled in controversies throughout her career, both in films and politics. In 2015, Malini’s speeding Mercedes crashed into a Maruti Alto while taking a turn on the highway, killing a two-year-old child and injuring a six-year-old and others in the vehicle. While Malini’s driver was arrested for rash driving, Malini was heavily criticised for blaming the father of the child, Mr. Khandelwal, for not following traffic rules. The family also claimed not to have received any financial aid, which was promised by Malini’s daughter, Esha Deol.
Malini has also been accused of political opportunism during her 2019 election campaign after videos of the BJP parliamentarian struggling to wield a broom that barely made contact with the concrete road during a cleanliness drive surfaced online.
She has also been involved in a land allotment controversy wherein the Maharashtra government allocated land worth Rs 70 crore for a meagre sum of Rs 1.75 lakh, leading to accusations of favouritism and land grabbing. Malini refuses the allegations.
Known as one of the seven sacred cities of the Hindus, Mathura is believed to be the traditional birthplace of the god Krishna. Covering the entire Mathura district, the Mathura Lok Sabha constituency comprises five Vidhan Sabhas, including Chhata, Mant, Goverdhan, Mathura, and the SC-reserved Baldev. All five legislative assemblies are under the saffron flag of the BJP.
The party has once again nominated sitting MP Hema Malini to contest in the Lok Sabha elections from Mathura.