Making his political comeback ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, veteran Bollywood actor Govinda joined Shiv Sena (Shinde) in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai on Thursday.
The actor is likely to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai North West seat against Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar, sources said.
Govinda heaped praises on the Maharashtra Chief Minister after joining the party at Balasaheb Bhavan after meeting the latter earlier in the day. Former Lok Sabha MP Milind Deora, who recently joined Shiv Sena after quitting the Congress, was also present on the occasion.
The actor had contested from Mumbai North Lok Sabha on a Congress ticket in 2004 and defeated BJP’s Ram Naik with a huge margin of votes. Later, he resigned from the party and took a break from politics altogether.
After joining the party, Govinda said he never thought he would join politics again.
“I had thought I would never join politics but after 14 years of exile, I finally decided to join the Shiv Sena. I feel fortunate,” he said.
In his address, Govinda spoke about transforming the Film City of Mumbai.
Terming his joining the ‘blessing of God’, he further said lots of work like the beautification of Mumbai and infrastructure development was already being done under the current regime, which was not seen before.
“Whatever work is assigned to me, I will do to the best of my ability,” he stated.