'Lucknow has never favoured actors: BJP

Pitted against Samajwadi Party's nominee actor Sanjay Dutt and Bahujan Samaj Party's Akhilesh Das, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Lucknow Lalji Tandon on Wednesday said the character of the city is very different as none of the film stars or businessmen has ever been able to find success in this Lok Sabha seat.

"Muzaffar Ali and Raj Babbar are some of the examples who have failed miserably at the elections though they were well known faces in their own way", Tandon told PTI in Lucknow.

The electorate of Lucknow has never voted for fulfilment of narrow motives but for the larger interest of the city which is home to all sections of society which have benefited from the welfare programmes initiated by various representatives, especially BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said.

Tandon said he was not perturbed over the fact that the Lucknow electorate comprises of about 30 per cent Muslims, who are traditionally against the BJP.

The Muslim brethren of Lucknow have always chosen their representatives judiciously and had never played into the hands of vested interests that exploit them for political gains and leave them in the lurch later, he said.

Asserting that for him jan bal (peoples' support) would be the guiding line unlike bahu bal (muscle power) and dhan bal (money power) being demonstrated by his rivals, Tandon said he would not indulge in mudslinging against rivals.