February 23, 1998

Vinod Khanna
BJP

Gurdaspur Punjab
Electorate: 10.4 lakh
Main Rival: Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder (Congress)

With its green fields, Gurdaspur is the ideal location for a love song. To be sure, the Vinod Khanna roadshow has a song and dance element to it. Traversing his constituency in a minibus with dark windows, the one-time Bollywood sex symbol is playing a new role as the BJP candidate. Here, rumours fly thicker than lassi: the cast of Border will be flying in, Akshaye Khanna will be here any day now and Madhuri Dixit will be campaigning for formidable rival Congress candidate Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder.

No such luck. Most stars have tight production schedules. Still, they are trying to chip in. Producer-director Subhash Ghai flies in just for the day. Dara Singh, too, will be dropping by.

Meanwhile, the 51-year-old Punjabi prodigal is trying to make himself at home, fast. He's set up lodgings at a friend's house in Pathankot. Khanna is low-key; more of a statesman, less of a stud. "I am not going to give you any dialogues," he warns and then goes on to talk about local issues: the need for a college, more jobs for the area. He's banking on getting not just the committed BJP and Akali vote but also that of a sizeable number of the star-struck. "Do you think he'll open a film institute here?" asks one such hopeful. Back on the bus, Khanna lights up a Benson & Hedges, putting it out of sight whenever he waves or stops to sign scraps of paper, even bare hands. He's in no mood to let his fans down.

- Namita Bhandare

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