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Amitabh CD to rescue of Ram Naik

Tuesday, 30 March 2004, 00:00 Hrs

MUMBAI: Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik is resorting to film clips starring Amitabh Bachchan and playing up his non-glamorous image to take on actor Govinda who is pitted against him in the upcoming parliamentary poll.

Naik of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is contesting for the sixth time from the Mumbai North parliamentary constituency where Govinda is a Congress candidate.

The minister often draws attention to his contrasts with Govinda and is working hard to prove his credentials as a politician who delivers.

A compact disc being prepared by BJP will feature all the work taken up by him in the constituency.

The catch-line will, however, be a clip from the film, "Shahenshah", where Amitabh Bachchan is heard extolling the virtues of a "Ram Naik".

"If you want to get work done, go to Ram Naik," says the clip from the movie that will be featured prominently in the CD, according to local BJP sources here.

Naik, who is playing up his non-glamorous persona, told reporters here that he never wore make-up unless technicians at TV studios applied some on him. He even says that unlike Govinda he does not have bad hair days.

Naik, who has a wisp of white running at the back of his pate, says he carries his comb in a secret pocket unlike his rival.

Still, Govinda scored a round against the veteran politician when he boarded a Mumbai local train to his old home in Virar on the last station in the Western Railway.

Naik saw red and alleged that Govinda was campaigning on public transport without the permission of the Election Commission.

Subsequently, the electoral officer in Mumbai clarified that Govinda was not strictly in the wrong as he was not officially a candidate for the elections - he is yet to file his nomination papers.

On his part, Govinda insisted that he was simply buying a ticket and boarding a train to go to a temple near his old home. The presence of television cameras, he said, was purely coincidental.

Source: IANS

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