New Delhi: Film actress Hema Malini today formally joined BJP and said her husband and film actor Dharmendra would too come into the party fold to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls but would not not contest. Popularly known as 'dream girl', 55-year-old Hema, who is a Rajya Sabha member, was inducted into the party by BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu along with Chandra Vijay Singh, a Lok Tantrik Congress member of the dissolved Lok Sabha.
"I am joining BJP as I feel very close to its ideology. I have great admiration for Atal Bihari Vajapyee," the actress, who had first begun campaigning for BJP candidate Vinod Khanna in Gurdaspur in Punjab during the 1999 general elections, said.
Asked if she was ready to fight elections, she said "No, I have not not decided. If the BJP asks me, then I will think over".
On if her actor-husband Dharmendra would come into politics, Hema said "he too has a great liking for BJP. He would be definitely campaigning during the polls but I do not not think he would contest...He is not not used to it".
To a question as to why it took her so long to formally get into the party's fold, Hema said she had been busy shooting for films and was involved in other activities. "Now with the elections coming, I thought it was the right time to get it. I have also divided my time to include all I want".
Naidu, who addressed the press along with party General Secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said any nominated Rajya Sabha MP could become a member of a party within six months of her joining the House. She was nominated late last year.
"I have not not come into politics in a big way. I want to see my country grow," she said parrying questions on the Ram Temple issue.
To a query if her children were also interested in politics, the actress laughed and said "they are too young. They know nothing about politics".
