Dharmendra's brief political stint and why the Bollywood legend walked away

Dharmendra, who passed away at 89 on Monday, had a short political stint; low attendance marked his term, and he later said politics was never meant for him

Dharmendra Deol, the evergreen star of Hindi cinema, passed away in Mumbai on Monday at the age of 89. While many know the actor for his action-packed roles and effortless charm in a career spanning over six decades, Dharmendra also forayed briefly into politics, and even went on to become a Member of Parliament.

 

Dharmendra's brief political stint

 

Dharmendra entered politics in 2004 when he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The party fielded him from Rajasthan’s Bikaner constituency, a seat that the Congress had won twice in a row.

 

Backed by his immense popularity and high-profile campaign support, including appearances by BJP stalwarts like LK Advani, Dharmendra won comfortably. He defeated Congress candidate Rameshwar Lal Dudi by nearly 60,000 votes and gained close to six per cent more vote share.   

 

Why politics didn’t work for Dharmendra

 

Despite the strong start, Dharmendra soon realised political life was not what he expected. He faced frequent criticism during his five-year term for staying away from constituency matters and spending more time on film shoots or at his farmhouse. His attendance in Parliament was also below the national average, drawing attacks from the opposition.

 

When his term ended in 2009, Dharmendra chose not to contest again. Years later, his son Sunny Deol openly said his father never enjoyed politics and regretted entering it. Dharmendra himself had once said, “I did the work, but someone else took the credit. Perhaps politics wasn’t for me.”

 

By the time Dharmendra stepped away, politics had become part of the Deol family’s journey. Hema Malini had already served a term as a nominated Rajya Sabha MP and later continued her career as an elected Lok Sabha MP  .

 

Sunny Deol also joined the BJP in April 2019 and contested from Punjab’s Gurdaspur. He won by a large margin, nearly 83,000 votes over Congress leader Sunil Jakhar.

 

However, like his father, Sunny struggled with parliamentary attendance. Constituency complaints also began to surface, though some supporters credited him with behind-the-scenes work. 

 

Sunny later exited politics after completing his term, making it clear he would not return. At the time, he told reporters that Dharmendra “didn't like politics and regretted joining it".