'I felt suffocated': Why Dharmendra regretted joining politics

Dharmendra did not enjoy his time as a Parliamentarian and he had maintained that an 'actor should remain an actor'.

New Delhi: Long before his son, Sunny Deol won the Parliamentary elections with a margin of over 80,000 in 2019 against then Congress MP Sunila Jakhar, Dharmendra had won a similar election two decades earlier – by defeating another Congress politician, Rameshwar Dudi, by a margin of 60,000 in neighbouring Bikaner in Rajasthan.

Contesting on a BJP ticket in 2004 from Bikaner, Dharmendra’s popularity in Rajasthan led to his victory even when his party did not retain power. The superstar, however, did not enjoy his time as a Parliamentarian and he had maintained that an "actor should remain an actor".

His tenure was marred by low attendance and less engagement on the floor of the House. “I won’t say that coming into politics was a mistake but, yes, an actor should not come into politics as it divides the audience and general acceptance among fans. An actor should always remain an actor,” Dharmendra had said in an interview to PTI in 2008.

Not one to hold back, Dharmendra had run into trouble on more than one occasion for his outspokenness. In 2004, he had suggested that he should be elected as a “dictator” permanently to teach political etiquette, which led to a lot of trouble. After he walked away from politics, he said that while he did the work, the credit was taken by others. He did not fight another election.

In 2020, Dharmedra had put out an X (previously Twitter) post asking for the farmers’ issues to be solved. “I request the government to quickly find a solution to the farmers’ issues. With each rising day, coronavirus cases in Delhi are increasing ... it is painful,” he had said. The post was soon deleted.

But when an X user said that he had deleted the tweet ostensibly owing to pressure, the veteran actor said that it was due to trolling that he took it down. “It is because of hurtful comments like these that I deleted my tweet. If you wish to abuse me then so be it. However, I am extremely sad seeing the problems that farmers are facing. The government should find some solutions to their worries,” he had said.

While he did not go back to politics, both his son Sunny and second wife Hema Malini fought Lok Sabha elections on BJP tickets. Like his father, Sunny never went back to politics after his 2019 foray. But Hema Malini fought from Mathura thrice in a row successfully.

Hema Malini had said on an earlier occasion that Dharmendra was not too happy with the idea of her joining politics, but she went ahead to challenge herself. Dharmendra, however, lent her his support. He also campaigned for Sunny in 2019.

In one of Sunny’s campaign programmes, Dharmendra addressed the crowd and said that he had come “to speak from the heart, not to give speeches.” “I do not give speeches, I just talk to people. What is in a speech? I am not a politician,” he said.

He carried a regret about his foray into politics. In 2010, at an event in Ludhiana, he said he had felt "suffocated" by politics. “I was dragged emotionally into the field. The day I agreed, I went to the washroom and banged my head into the mirror...Politics is something I never wanted to do. Nobody has done the amount of work which I have done for the people of my constituency, Bikaner, till date,” he had said.