Hours after India TV channel beamed old footage of a party where actor Govinda, now Congress MP from Mumbai North, is seen hugging gangster Chhota Rajan, once a close associate of don Dawood Ibrahim, the Congress questioned the motive behind the story and demanded an inquiry into it.Defending Govinda, Congress spokesman Anand Sharma questioned the motive behind the beaming of the footage. ‘‘What sting operation? Sting operations are about the present, not about antiquity. The footage is almost a decade-and-half old. The question is why was the issue not raised then. Why now?’’ he asked.‘‘There’s definitely a motive behind the story and it needs to be probed. For popular figures, it is impossible to ascertain antecedents of people who happen to be present near them in public. The rest is for Govinda to answer,’’ Sharma said.According to India TV, the footage was from a a party held before 1993. Dawood Ibrahim is wanted for his role in the Mumbai serial blasts in 1993. Govinda had not entered politics then.While Govinda was not available for comment, Congressman Sanjay Nirupam said the party would demand a probe to verify the authenticity of the images. ‘‘Obviously, we have taken note of the images being shown by the news channel. We would like to have a probe to ascertain the authenticity of the images. I have not yet seen the images and learnt about it from my friends and party colleagues,’’ Nirupam told The Indian Express.An office-bearer of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, who did not wish to be named, said it was meant to embarrass the party. ‘‘Though the images belong to the period when Govinda was nowhere near politics, he is an MP today. The underworld dons that he has been shown with are hate figures in India and these images do not augur well for the party,’’ he said.Govinda was elected to Lok Sabha from Mumbai North in the 2004 elections when he defeated BJP heavyweight and former Minister Ram Naik.
