There is an atmosphere of mourning in Bikaner, Rajasthan due to the demise of veteran film artist and former MP Dharmendra. Dharmendra was elected MP from Bikaner 21 years ago in 2004. He had defeated the then veteran Congress leader Rameshwar Dudi by about 57 thousand votes. Dharmendra’s five-year tenure as Bikaner MP was a bittersweet experience. After this he also resigned from politics.

Dharmendra got many big development works done in his parliamentary constituency Bikaner. However, most of the credit for this work was taken by experienced politicians. A big work among these was the renovation of Sursagar pond of Bikaner. Sursagar pond, once infamous as a suicide point, was developed by Dharmendra as a picnic spot with the help of Rajasthan and Central governments. However, the then Vasundhara Raje government of Rajasthan counted this as its achievement.

Expressed regret over not getting credit

Dharmendra also regretted this. Dharmendra had said in a public function held in Bikaner that he does the work here and someone else takes the credit for it. Perhaps politics is his name and he is not fit for it at all. Dharmendra had announced to stay away from politics in Bikaner only due to the credit of his works. He had said here that the intricacies of politics are beyond his understanding.

Waited for several days after the missing poster

Just a few days after being elected MP, he realized that he would not be able to last long in politics. This is the reason why he gradually started maintaining distance from Bikaner. When posters of his disappearance were put up, Dharmendra stayed in the Circuit House for several days and ignored the security cordon and kept listening to the problems of the people. He removed the resentment of many people by reciting dialogues from the film Sholay.

On the request of one of his fans, he had also come to inaugurate his Photo Color Lab. This fan was so impressed with Dharmendra that he named the Color Lab after him.

Initially BJP leaders did not support

When Dharmendra came to Bikaner to contest elections, all the leaders and workers of his own party BJP were angry for a long time and were not campaigning openly. He believed that Dharmendra was an outsider and his arrival would affect his own politics. Dharmendra had impressed people by reciting dialogues from the film Sholay through street meetings and street meetings. Had assured people that the kind of fight he had fought against Gabbar in the film Sholay. Just as he had helped the people of Ramgarh, in the same way he will always be there to help the people of Bikaner.

Although he did not become very popular as an MP, he still lives in the hearts of the people of Bikaner. Today when he said goodbye to the world, all the people of Bikaner are sad and remembering him. Whenever he came to Bikaner, he used to leave the stardom of the film world in Mumbai itself.