New Delhi: Congress has approached Election Commission seeking additional security for Nagma, the party's Lok Sabha candidate for Meerut, after the actress complained of incidents of misbehaviour during campaigning.
AICC's legal and human rights department head K C Mittal told PTI that "Nagma has written to the party and we have taken it up with Election Commission. We have also written to the Chief Election Officer in Lucknow.
I am also going to meet the officials. It a law and order issue and the local administration should handle it properly." Nagma is pitted against sitting BJP MP Rajendra Agrawal and SP's Shahid Manzoor.
Earlier, talking to PTI, Nagma said, "I want additional police security as there is a crowd problem here. I have my private security and they can look after me, but who will control the crowd. We are witnessing huge crowds during campaigning. "If something untoward happens, then what? There have been many incidents of pick pocketing as well," she said.
Asked if she is suffering for being a celebrity, the 40-year-old actress replied in the negative. "Not everybody is like that. I cannot say suffering as there are plus and minus points attached to being a celebrity.
I cannot really complain. It's not that I am not getting anything in return. I have the love and support of people, which is overwhelming," said the actress who has worked with superstars like Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar.
On reports that she slapped a youth during an election rally last week when he tried to come too close to her, Nagma said that she was just trying to push him.She also accused her opponents' for creating disturbances during her rallies and meetings.
Asked if she is getting enough support from local party workers, she refrained from giving a direct reply, but said, "Right now, I am just working. I don't have much time left (before the polls) to think who is supporting me and who is not. I am meeting people and holding open interactions where people can question me and I can answer their queries." Reacting to talk that she is a 'parachuted' into the contest, Nagma questioned BJP leaders Narendra Modi, Sushma Swaraj and L K Advani's candidature from their respective seats."If I am an outsider in Meerut then what is Modi in Varanasi, Swaraj in Vidisha and Advani in Gandhinagar," she asked.
She also dismissed the view that there was any Modi wave in the country and said, "I believe in work that has been done and what has NDA done?... They have zero contribution and they talk big while Congress has come out with MGNREGA, food security bill, Lokpal, RTI and many more schemes.
"BJP is a sinking ship and the only man who could revive the whole scenario for them was Modi, (who) is a fanatic, but fanaticism does not work in India." Her priorities for Meerut include reviving the weaving industry and sports and making the city safer for women.
"I will try to revive weaving and sports industry and build an international stadium here. I want to make Meerut safer for women and improve the law and order situation," she said.
On whether her acting career would take a backseat after her electoral debut, Nagma said her priorities in life had changed. "I was offered (tickets) to contest in 2004 and 2009 as well, but was working at the time. This time, I made a conscious decision to contest. People are still offering me films and TV serials, but my priorities in life have changed. "I was never hell bent on being an actress forever, but I will not say that I won't work again," she said.
