New Delhi/Lucknow: The Bachchan political saga, being played out in the background of the upcoming UP Assembly polls, seems to be getting bigger by the day.
Allegations of the superstar being “harassed” and “humiliated” by the Central Government are flying thick and fast from the Samajwadi Party camp, with the party bigwigs sparing no opportunity to lash out at the Congress.
So is the Bachchan family really being targeted by the Government?
Yes, say Samajwadi Party top brass and they have their reasons ready. They include: the notices from Income Tax department sent to Bachchan when he was recuperating in the hospital last year, the disqualification of his wife and MP Jaya Bachchan from Parliament and the angry protests after his son Abhishek Bachchan was honoured by UP government.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh – known for his proximity to the Bachchans – was the first one to come up with the claim.
He said the Congress will have to pay heavily if Bachchan decided to jump into the political fray.
Bachchan made clear the same day that he was not interested in mainstream politics and would not make a comeback.
Now, two days after the superstar went on record to deny his intention of rejoining active politics, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday clarified that he was also not cajoling the Big B into doing so.
However, Yadav maintained his colleague Amar Singh’s claim that the actor is being "harassed and humiliated" by the UPA government.
"I had said that if Bachchan continues to be humiliated and harassed he will be forced to enter politics," Yadav told reporters here.
Showering praise on Amitabh, Yadav said he was an "icon and star of the millennium" and had enhanced the nation's prestige on the international stage.
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''We can never force him to join politics. He is already a celebrity in cinema. Name and fame are not new to him.''
Justifying the conferring of the prestigious Yash Bharti award on Amitabh's son Abhishek, Yadav said the young actor had carved a niche for himself at an early age and deserved the award.
Yadav, who spares nothing to attack the Congress at the Centre, claimed the way Amitabh was being insulted was a cause of shame.
''Amitabh is being respected, rewarded and awarded by the global fraternity but the inquiries initiated against him every now and then spoke of the poor mentality of the Congress,'' he said.
He also lashed out at those who opposed Abhishek's felicitation and burnt his effigies and beat his posters with shoes.
"The way Abhishek's portrait was beaten with shoes by Congress workers in Allahabad is shameful," Yadav said.
Yadav said that womenfolk had reacted strongly to the humiliation of Abhishek.
Amitabh Bachchan’s earlier foray into politics was full of bitter-sweet memories.
After a thumping victory from Allahabad Lok Sabha seat, he had to resign in 1988 in the wake of the raging controversy over Bofors gun deal surrounding his friend and then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
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