Keith Vaz wins in British polls

May 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 7 (IANS) Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz held the Leicester East constituency for the Labour party in the British general election.

He defeated Conservative candidate Jane Hunt and Liberal Democrat candidate Ali Asghar.

Indian filmstar Sanjay Dutt had campaigned for Vaz in his constituency, that has a large population of South Asians, where he secured 53.8 percent of the vote. Vaz’s parents were from Goa and the family migrated to Britain from Yemen in 1965.

Keith has been a member of parliament for Leicester East since 1987. On July 26, 2007, Vaz was elected chairman of the influential Home Affairs Select Committee.

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Labour MP Vaz claims 75 K pounds as expenses for a flat, 12 miles from home

May 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, May 9 (ANI): Senior Labour backbencher Keith Vaz has claimed over 75,500 pounds in expenses for a flat in Westminster despite his family home being a 1.15 million pounds house just 12 miles from parliament.
According to The Telegraph, his living arrangements will leave him open to the same questions asked of Tony McNulty, the Home Office Minister, who claimed for a house about the same distance away lived in by his parents.

Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, also switched his designated second home from the 545,000 pounds flat to a house in his Leicester East constituency and back again in the space of a year.

Vaz’s main home is a house in Stanmore, northwest London, that he bought with his wife Maria for 1.15 million pounds in November 2005. They live there with their two children. Before then they lived in another house in Stanmore.

Their current house is less than a mile from Stanmore underground station, which takes passengers directly to Westminster on the Jubilee Line.

According to Transport for London, the 14-stop journey should take about 37 minutes. A car journey straight down the A5 should take about 40 minutes. (ANI)

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Political parties bank on Bollywood star ‘power’

May 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Mumbai, Apr 29 (ANI): A host of Bollywood celebrities have hit the hot and sultry campaign trail to support political candidates in Mumbai.

Bollywood actress Mahima Chaudhary was a crowd puller at a road show for ationalist Congress Party (NCP) nominee Sanjay Patil in Mumbai’s North-East constituency.
“All my wishes for Sanjay Patil. I think he is young, energetic and has a family history of serving people. All the people around seem to love him,” said Chaudhary.

Chaudhary had been campaigning for a various political parties in the past few weeks in different parts of the country as well.

The state’s ruling NCP headed by Sharad Pawar has also roped in Govinda, another popular star, to garner support for its candidate Vasant Davkhare in Thane constituency on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Govinda said that he would campaign for his friends whenever they needed him.

“During a tough phase in my life, Vasant Davkhare stood beside me as a friend. I respect him and his family a lot. I had been to Pune to give support. I am here as well and will be in all the places hopefully,” said Govinda.

Earlier, actor-turned-politician Sanjay Dutt , who is now a top functionary of the Samajwadi Party, and senior leader Amar Singh campaigned for Ramchandra R. Patil in Bhiwandi constituency near Mumbai. (ANI)

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NCP to field Bollywood actor Amisha Patel from Rajkot

March 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Ahmedabad, Mar 21 (ANI): The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Gujarat unit president, Jayant Patel, on Saturday said the party has decided to field Bollywood actress Amisha Patel from the Rajkot parliamentary constituency in the general elections.

“I called up Amishaji yesterday and sought her consent. She agreed immediately,” Patel said.

The NCP leader said the actress has her roots in Gujarat, which would help to secure victory for the party.

On Friday, the NCP had earlier declared that it could field either cricketer Ajay Jadeja or Bollywood actress Amisha Patel from Rajkot.

Patel said fielding Amisha would be a winning proposition for the party.

“I have known the family of the actress for years and can say with confidence that her contesting will be a winning proposition for NCP in the Saurashtra region,” he added.

Patel said the party could also field another celebrity from the Ahmedabad (East) constituency. (ANI)

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