New Delhi, May 27 : Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt and former national women’s swimming champion Nafisa Ali are, by no stretch of imagination, socialists, and it is a shame that the Samajwadi Party, which is led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, is projecting both as icons of socialism, says veteran politician George Fernandes.

“The biggest shame is to see the likes of socialites or film stars like Nafisa Ali or Sanjay Dutt sporting the red topi of the socialist working class movement like a fashion accessory just because they are campaigning for the Samajwadi Party. It is indeed sad that Mulayam Singh Yadav allows such mockery to take place under his Samajwadi banner,” says Fernandes in an article for the socialist journal “The Other Side”.

Appealing for genuine socialists to get together to promote the politics of integrity and ideology, Fernandes says practicing politicians must take the lead and adds that senior leaders of the socialist movement can inspire through their past legacies and moral character.

“There is hardly any room left for brilliant oratory… and some like Nafisa Ali and Mallika Sarabhai thought their media élan and glamour could replace the (socialist) system by becoming candidates. The media must stop acting as if they are solely in charge of the political discourse of the country,” he adds.

He concludes with a warning that apathy and arrogance only breeds more of the same rubbish that the current crop of leaders often rail against. (ANI)