Dilip Kumar, just back from his New Delhi trip, thawed a bit and accepted the Congress version of regret that partymen had joined the Shiv Sena chorus demanding that he return Pakistan's Nishan-e-Imtiaz award. He was hurt that even Congressmen had stooped that low. Peace brokered, he was persuaded -- or nearly so -- to campaign for Congress candidates in the forthcoming election.

It is learned that Kumar responded favourably but laid down a few conditions before committing himself to the campaign. He is believed to have told Deora and Dutt that the Congress has turned into a ``very inert and placid party'' with more in-fighting than the common man can stomach.

It seems his conditionswere that the partymen organise themselves especially in the post-Sharad Pawar phase and also that there's some semblance of a promise that key leaders will bend a little to strike a better rapport with one another. However, Dilip Kumar when contacted for confirmation merely said, ``even today, Congress is a party with lesser evil people but I don't have to discuss campaigning over lunch in a restaurant.''

Deora flatly denied talking politics during the lunch and insisted that it was ``purely a gathering of old friends who had not met in a long time''. Deora will re-contest the Mumbai South seat in the forthcoming general election while Dutt is a strong contender for Mumbai North-West. Both have substantial segments of Muslim population and vote.

Dutt had resigned voluntarily after his actor son Sunjay Dutt was booked under TADA in the Mumbai bomb blasts case; he refused to contest in 1998 on the grounds that his son was still an accused. Subsequently, the seat was given to the Samajwadi Party in theCongress-SP alliance. The SP candidate, Sohail Lokhandwala, lost it by the narrowest margin in the country -- 145 votes. The Congress hopes to regain that seat if Dutt, with his good standing among Muslims, fights the election.

It's not just Dilip Kumar's glamour value but the fact that he has stood up to the Shiv Sena-BJP combine admirably and his credibility on issues that make him a powerful campaigner for the party, say Congress sources. Even if he cannot travel, given his rather delicate health condition -- he underwent bypass surgery earlier this year -- his presence in the Mumbai campaign alone will do the party some good, is the party's rationale.