Dutt woos voters in Thane

When he landed in a Vasai school playground from a chopper in the afternoon,the people who had been waiting for him since the morning,erupted in cheers.

Party workers,school children and villagers surged forward to catch a glimpse of the star,who merely waved at the crowd before going to Nalasopara in an open vehicle.

“I do not know much about politics,but just came here because I was told that Sanjay Dutt would be coming,” a Vasai resident said while trying to click a picture of Dutt with his mobile phone.

The public address at Nalasopara was short. SP leader Amar Singh spoke a couple of words about his party before leaving the stage to Manoj Tiwari,who spouted a few poetic lines about the elections. Addressing the party workers who were blowing whistles (the symbol of the party),Tiwari said,“Stop blowing the whistles now. The whistle is going to blow on April 30.”

Finally,it was the turn of Dutt,who was requested by Tiwari to deliver a few words,leading to another round of applause and ovation as the kurta clad star swaggered on to the stage to address the public.

“I won’t make long speeches. Now-a-days,an FIR is registered against people for that reason too —referring to the Mayawati incident where his remark about ‘jhappi’ had led to a complaint filed against him. All I shall say is that this party should win the elections with your help,mamu,” he said in his typical ‘Munnabhai’ slang.

Stating that they had to go to Bhiwandi,the party leaders left after Sanjay Dutt’s speech.

However,not everyone was happy with Munnabhai’s visit apparently.

Vijay,a cigarette and paan stall owner near the ground where Sanjay Dutt had addressed the public,said,“He has made a ‘mamu’ out of all of us. People have been waiting for him since the morning and his speech lasted only a couple of minutes.”