'Govinda is not quitting politics'

Govinda's brother Kirti Kumar on Tuesday denied that his brother, who won the Lok Sabha election from a Mumbai constituency last year, was quitting politics and returning to films.

On Tuesday, a leading financial daily in Mumbai claimed that Govinda may quit politics to go back to doing films, which was his bread and butter.

The paper quoted a top Congress leader without naming him and stated the actor could not cope with the demands of people knocking his door in the middle of the night to solve their problems.

"Govinda is not quitting politics. Our family is dedicated to solve the people's problems and therefore my brother came into politics. We will continue to help the people out in solving their problems and that is the commitment of my brother and my family towards the people," Kumar told rediff.com.

Govinda made history in 2004, when he defeated five-time member of Parliament and then Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik from Mumbai North constituency. However, the euphoria over his victory was short-lived and Govinda could not match up to the people's expectations.

Of late he has been quoted as saying he would like to go back to doing films. 'I need to run my household and therefore I need to do films,' the actor was quoted as saying recently.

Govinda the actor has had a series of flops since 1998 and his last home production, Sukh, failed miserably at the box office this year.

His role as politician too came under severe criticism in the aftermath of the Mumbai floods of July 26 as he did not come out to help the people. Over 700 people died in the floods in Mumbai, quite a few of them from Govinda's constituency.

The actor suffered another personal blow in August, when his family members met with an accident while they were traveling to Ajmer in Rajasthan. His secretary Rishabh Jha died and his family members, including his wife and children, were seriously injured.

"There are ups and downs in everyone's life and this is what is happening in Govinda's films. I think people are  unnecessarily speculating about his quitting politics, and there is no truth in it," said Kumar.

The actor himself was not available for comment but his secretary Rakesh Singh said, "The news about Govinda quitting politics is indeed news to me. I have not heard any such thing from Govindaji on this issue."