Actor-turned-BJP candidate from North East Delhi Lok Sabha seat Manoj Tiwari today said if he gets elected he will cut down on his film assignments to dedicate more time to the people of his constituency.
Tiwari, a popular Bhojpuri actor and singer, said that he would not use his celebrity status as an excuse to stay away from the constituency and would make himself available to the people for most of the time.
"Whenever I meet people during campaign, I am often told 'celebrity ho bhaag mat jaana' (you are a celebrity, don't run away after elections). But I have assured them that I would be here 10 out of 12 months," Tiwari told reporters here.
"I usually do 10-12 films a year, but I have decided to cut down to one or two films a year so that I could devote more time to the people here... I have requested the people to give me two months for my work as I have to keep the artist in me alive," he said.
Tiwari, who contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur constituency on a Samajwadi Party ticket, said joining SP was a "folly" made under the influence of stardom.
"That decision was a folly. I was under the influence of my stardom and Amar Singh (former SP leader) cashed in on that opportunity and I went as star campaigner for Samajwadi Party during the elections," Tiwari, who has joined BJP in October last year ahead of Delhi Assembly polls, said.
"Later, I was present at the Anna Hazare's movement against corruption, Baba Ramdev's anti-corruption rallies. I have been associated with issue-based movements. Following the same line, I parted ways with SP and joined BJP," he added.
Tiwari is pitted against sitting Congress MP Jai Prakash Aggarwal and AAP's Anand Kumar from the North East Delhi seat, which has over 30 lakh Purvanchali population.
