IS SHAH RUKH KHAN JOINING POLITICS

Shah Rukh is known to be close to Priyanka and husband Robert Vadra, both of who were in Mumbai for a day. They watched Shah Rukh in action at the Film City in Goregaon, where he was busy shooting for his film, Paheli.

Later in the evening, the Vadras joined Shah Rukh's family at his Bandra home for dinner. Congress sources here yesterday acknowledged that the actor was moving closer to the party, but none of the local or state leaders have been kept in the loop about these developments.

In fact, most Congress leaders here were unaware about Priyanka's engagements in the city. According to party sources, journalist-turned-MP Rajiv Shukla, who is also close to Priyanka, coordinated the Mumbai trip.

Rajiv in fact had hosted a party for Shah Rukh a few days earlier in Delhi, after he was awarded the Padma Shri. Both Priyanka and Robert were present at the dinner, together with senior Congress leaders. Among the few Congress leaders from Maharashtra who have been seen together with Shah Rukh in recent days are chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Prithviraj Chauhan, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's office.

Interestingly, when Govinda was inducted into the party last year, most of the local leaders were unaware about the move. In fact, there was some opposition when the high command gave the Mumbai (north) parliamentary constituency to the actor, who despite reservations from the local party unit, beat his Bharatiya Janata Party opponent, Ram Naik, in the elections.

Shah Rukh Khan has been under attack by the BJP in Maharashtra, with party leader Gopinath Munde alleging that the Congress-led government had given a 10,000 sq ft plot, located next to his bungalow, and reserved for an art gallery, to the actor.

But Shah Rukh denies the charges. According to him, he had bought the land about three to four years ago, in a straightforward deal involving a private party, and had not sought any favours from the government.