Dara Singh surprised over Dharmendra's religion change

Noted actor and Rajya Sabha member Dara Singh on Tuesday expressed `surprise' that Bollywood actor and BJP candidate from Bikaner constituency, Dharmendra had embraced Islam to marry Hema Malini.

Talking to reporters here at the BJP office, Singh, when asked to comment on existence of nikahnama of Dharmendra's marriage with Hema Malini, said, "as far as I know their marriage took place with the consent of his wife."

On Congress leaders' allegation that the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has grown old, Singh countered their charge by describing Congress as an "aging party".

He also expressed surprise that people are not enthusiastic about exercising their right to franchise and urged the voters to come out and vote.

He also welcomed the Supreme Court directive to the Election Commission on the issue of giving an option of exercising `no choice' in the Electronic Voting Machine and added that it will help in knowing the real picture.

Singh also urged the EC to take steps to ensure that each and every voter has his/her name in the voters list while referring to the fact that still large number of names were missing from the voters list.

When asked whether he is enjoying political activity more than wrestling, Singh said that serving people is very different from wrestling in the ring.

On the issue of filmstars joining politics in lieu of alleged monetary gains, Singh said it is wrong to join a political party on monetary concerns and clarified that he was attracted towards BJP because of its performance.