After a brief visit to Mumbai, Dutt resumed campaigning on Sunday. But as he was returning from a house on the Lucknow University campus, stones were thrown at his cavalcade by protestors believed to be hostellers. While no one was injured in the melee, the last of the five-car fleet ferrying his security men was hit by stones.

The group of students, mostly from Golden Jubilee Hostel, were angry that Dutt, who was on his way to the party office at Kaiserbagh, did not get down from his car to meet the waiting crowd. Dutt had gone to the campus to meet film director Abhishek Tandon, son of Professor T K Tandon of the Botany Department.

However, as the news spread, hundreds of hostellers gathered near the house and waited for almost an hour for a glimpse of the actor. On his way out, Dutt waved to the waiting crowds and sign a few autographs. “Since the crowd was swelling it was impossible for him to sign autographs and get clicked with everybody, and so me hurriedly moved on,” said Abhishek, who is directing a film titled 72 hours. “I had approached Sanjay to cast him in the film. Since we both were in Lucknow, he called on me to take things forward,” said Abhishek, confirming that Dutt had accepted the script.

However, the angry fans had a different take. “Now that he is contesting from here, he should stop behaving like a star and at least be courteous to people waiting to meet him,” said Rudra, a student of Diamond Jubilee Hostel.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary said Dutt was a big star and should get adequate security. “It is the administration’s job to prevent such untoward incidents,” he added.

Meanwhile, in Kanpur, the Congress on Sunday indicated that the party would support the SP’s Lucknow candidate, actor Sanjay Dutt, if the Supreme Court allowed him to contest the election. Digvijay Singh, AICC general secretary in charge of UP said, “If Dutt gets the permission, the Congress will support him. Otherwise, we will plan fielding our own candidate from Lucknow,” he said. He did not rule out the possibility of Congress supporting SP on a few more seats.