“Amitabh belongs to entire world”

PUNE: Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Tuesday came out in defence of old friend Amitabh Bachchan on the issue of the Congress' criticism of the actor for becoming the brand ambassador of Gujarat, governed by “riot-tainted” Narendra Modi.

Mr. Singh and Mr. Bachchan shared the stage at a function of the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, about 25 km from here.

Their appearance came against the backdrop of a speech Mr. Singh made on Sunday in which he hinted at being hurt by Jaya Bachchan's refusal to quit the Samajwadi Party after his own removal.

At the function on Tuesday, however, the old friends did not show any signs of a rift between them. Mr. Singh praised Mr. Bachchan for having maintained a “dignified silence” in the face of the Congress' criticism. However, on his behalf, Mr. Singh said: “Who is he [Mr. Bachchan], or any citizen, to speak about the Godhra riots [of 2002] when the Supreme Court is looking into that?”

Mr. Singh pointed to the irony of the fact that years ago when Mr. Bachchan was shooting for a film called Main Azaad Hoon (I am free), members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, students wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, had disrupted the shoot because Mr. Bachchan was close to Rajiv Gandhi.