In a bid to boost tourism the state, Haryana government has approached Bollywood actor Dharmendra to endorse the state as a tourist destination.
According to HT, Haryana’s tourism minister Ram Bilas Sharma met the veteran actor in Chandigarh on Thursday to discuss the matter with him. As the State Government is planning to improve the image of the pilgrimage places in the area it is trying to rope in Dharmendra to promote state’s tourism.
Both Dharmendra and his actor wife Hema Malini also have linkage with BJP which is in power in the state. While Hema is currently MP from Mathura, Dharmendra was earlier a Lok Sabha member from Bikaner, Rajasthan.
“The state government is thinking to promote the religious and rural tourism. A plan is being worked out to promote the religious circuits.It was a lifetime experience to meet a Bollywood star as a tourism minister,” Ram Bilas Sharma was quoted as saying by India Today.
Recently the state government had appointed Baba Ram Dev as the Yoga ambassador for the state and Actress Parineeti Chopra has been chosen as the brand ambassador of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign.
This is not the first time that a Bollywood actor has been roped in to promote state tourism. Amitabh Bachchan was roped in as brand ambassador of Gujarat, Shah Rukh Khan for West Bengal, Preity Zinta for Himachal Pradesh Tourism and badminton player Saina Nehwal for Andhra Pradesh Tourism.