Yesteryear actor Poonam Dhillon, who was appointed the vice president of BJP's Mumbai unit a couple of months back, has said she could now spare time for active politics as her children were grown up.
Dhillon had made her Bollywood debut way back in 1978 through Yash Raj Films' "Trishul", which also starred actors including Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar and Shashi Kapoor. She had joined the BJP in 2004, but owing to her family commitments, she could not pursue her political dreams then.
Dhillon, 56, was appointed the vice president of Mumbai BJP during Diwali last year.
"I am very much aware of the political developments around...although my first tryst with politics was not a long one as I had to take a long sabattical. Fourteen years ago, my children were very young and they needed my attention," she said at a function here on Thursday.
"Therefore, I decided to put my social work and political plans on hold as I thought that I could do it even after 50. Now my children are grown up and I am quite free to pay full attention towards serving the people," she said.
Dhillon, who is also known for her roles in films like "Noorie", "Dard", "Nishaan", "Zamana" and "Sohni Mahiwal", was speaking on the sidelines of the release of the Urdu version of the book "Aurat: Halaat aur Hal" written by activist and lawyer Abha Singh.
Replying to a query whether the Triple Talaq Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha, would also be cleared by the Rajya Sabha, Dhillon said the political parties or the people who were against it, should weigh its merits.
"This Bill is meant for the betterment of the larger section of the society, not for a particular party. Time has now come for the people and the parties to do something for the future of the country. They should set aside their personal interests and agenda," she said.
The Lok Sabha has passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill. However, it remained stuck in the Rajya Sabha.
To a query over the ban on Indian TV content in Pakistan, Dhillon said, "They can do it in their capacity. I have done a TV programme in Pakistan and found that they have a different line from us. I don't want to comment on their decision, but yes I would definetly say that TV (content) does have an impact and therefore when we produce a content, our responsibility increases."
In October 2018, the Pakistan Supreme Court reinstated the ban on the transmission of Indian content on local television channels, setting aside the Lahore High Court orders.
Pakistan's Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Wednesday said that the Supreme Court will not allow Indian content to be shown on Pakistani TV channels as it "damages our culture".
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)