Sanjay Dutt with wife Maanyata at the Samajwadi roadshow in Lucknow. (Reuters)

Lucknow, Jan. 17: Beware Mayavati, Sanjay Dutt is ready to say it with flowers.

That will be in keeping with Munnabhai’s ideals of Gandhigiri, he said. Might also cure her of her obsession for stone.

Sanjay today kicked off his maiden political roadshow, taking digs at rivals and regaling crowds with the promise that he would stick to “Gandhigiri”, the term made famous by Lage Raho Munnabhai, the second film in the Munnabhai series.

People poured out of homes while others crammed rooftops as the star, the Samajwadi Party’s candidate for Lok Sabha polls, went around the heartland city in an open Gypsy, wife Maanyata by his side.

“I am here to love people and seek their love. People here should give me a magic hug,” he said, alluding to the jadoo ki jhappi he uses to transform others in the film Munnabhai MBBS.

Would he practise Gandhigiri against BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee if the former Prime Minister decides to contest?

“I don’t think I will do that to Vajpayee…” Sanjay said, before Samajwadi general secretary Amar Singh cut in. Vajpayee is not going to contest, Amar — whom Sanjay yesterday referred to as “elder brother” — said.

But he would certainly send flowers to Mayavati, Sanjay said. It would be a fitting reply, in Gandhigiri tradition, to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s obsession with statues — of herself and her icons.

And, to her strong-arm tactics. Amar Singh, head bandaged, would vouch for that. The Samajwadi leader claims Mayavati’s police hit him with sticks.

Munnabhai is, however, yet to decide who his “Circuit” — his sidekick in Munnabhai MBBS — will be in Lucknow.

“I will, and the entire party will be acting the role of Circuit,” actor-turned-MP Jaya Bachchan butted in.

Won’t so many “Circuits” short-circuit his career?

Samajwadi boss Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar, Jaya Prada, another actor-turned-politician, and Maanyata exploded in laughter.

As Sanjay’s car passed through Ameenabad, Amar showed him a lane where his late father Sunil Dutt had once stayed.

“I have the blood of Nargis and Sunil Dutt in me. I will live up to their legacy of politics and serve the people of Lucknow,” Sanjay, in white kurta-pyjama and black jacket, said.

“My father worked long as a Congressman and, during all these years, I felt protected. After his death, I had the feeling that I am in a big party like the Congress so I have no fear. But my father’s death created a void and loneliness in me. I got the support of Amar Singh. He stood by me. So I have listened to his advice and joined this socialist camp,” he said.

Sanjay landed in Lucknow airport at 10.40 this morning. Some workers of the ruling BSP shouted “Go back, Sanjay”.

But an adoring crowd of 10,000 waited for Sanjay at a cinema in Hazratganj. Men and women crowded rooftops to catch a glimpse of the star as rose petals showered on him.

“It has rekindled the memory of my husband arriving in Allahabad,” said Jaya Bachchan, recalling Amitabh Bachchan’s 1984 trip after being nominated a Congress candidate.

After six hours on the road, Sanjay said he no longer felt alone. “The loneliness I was surrounded with always has gone and I am happy,” he said.