On the 27th of March, Urmila Matondkar joined the Indian National Congress (INC.) According to reports, the actress is likely to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai North constituency in Maharashtra.
Urmila joined the INC because of her belief in the Party’s ideology and in the way it functions. “I have not joined the party for the sake of elections. I am here to stay. Today is a significant day for me as I have formally entered politics. My life has been inspired by Mahatma Gandhi from the days of my childhood,” she said, while being sworn into the Party.
According to Matondkar, her joining the Party was necessary because the attack on the freedom of expression needs to be stopped. She also praised Rahul Gandhi, the President of the INC, and said, a leader should be judged by his qualities and not by their background.
If Urmila does get elected, she would contest from the Mumbai North constituency. Her rival would be the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP,) Gopal Shetty.
Mumbai North is the second constituency in India to elect a commercial Bollywood star as a Member of Parliament. Previously, Sunil Dutt represented the Mumbai North West constituency five times in a row since the year 1984.
Other than Sunil Dutt, Govinda (Ahuja) was also elected as a MP in Uttar Pradesh. However, in the year 2014, he had to give up his seat when he was defeated by the former Union Petroleum Minister, Ram Naik.
The six constituencies in Mumbai will conduct the Lok Sabha Elections on the 29th of April, along with 17 other constituencies, during the fourth phase of the elections.
The 2019 Lok Sabha Elections are going to be held in seven phases across the country. Starting from the 11th of April and ending on the 19th of May, the results are going to be announced on the 23rd of May.
Stay tuned for more updates.
