Indian actor Sayaji Shinde joined Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday. The addition of the famous actor is likely to benefit the party in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.

Sayaji Shinde has been featured in several Bollywood and Tollywood films. After joining the party, Shinde mentioned that he had never planned to join politics but had always been impressed with NCP’s Ajit Pawar’s strategies. The Indian film industry’s actor had earlier praised the Maharashtra government’s Ladki-Bahin scheme.

“I never thought I would join politics. My decision may also be a shock for many. If I have gone to Mantralaya for 25 times, at least 15 times I met Ajit Pawar. I have liked the strategies of the NCP-Ajit Pawar,” said the actor after joining the party.

Sayaji Shinde joined the political party in the presence of Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, working president of the party Praful Patel, and state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare.

Maharashtra deputy CM Pawar welcomed Sayaji Shinde into the political party and announced him as the star campaigner of the NCP during the upcoming state assembly elections. “Shinde will be given due respect in the party,” PTI quoted Ajit Pawar as saying.

“We feel proud that he is being associated with us. Shinde is also a social activist,” said NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal while welcoming the actor into the party.

Sayaji Shinde is a versatile actor whose work is not limited to any specific language. He has worked in films in several Indian languages, including Hindi, Marathi, and Telugu.

Need to be a part of the system to work more effectively, says Shinde

The 65-year-old Shinde applauded Ajit Pawar’s style of functioning and said joining politics would help him work more effectively. “I was impressed by Ajit Pawar’s style of functioning,” the actor said, adding that he interacted with Pawar when working for his favourite cause of tree plantation.

Sayaji Shinde was born in Maharashtra’s Satara district and started his career in Marathi theatre. He achieved his first milestone in the Bollywood industry when he played the role of an antagonist in Hindi film “Shool” released in 1999. Apart from acting in several Marathi and Hindi movies, Sayaji Shinde has also worked in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Gujarati and Bhojpuri films.

In addition to being a versatile actor, Shinde is also a social activist who has also worked for spreading awareness related to environment protection.