<strong>New Delhi, April 1</strong> --A day after the Supreme Court disallowed him from contesting elections because of his conviction in a criminal case, Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt Wednesday alleged that a senior Congress leader had threatened him if he did not join that party.

In an interview to television channel NDTV, Dutt said he had tapes of the conversation he had with the minister who threatened him that court cases would go against him if he did not join the Congress.

Refusing to identify the minister, Dutt said: "I did a sting operation on the minister."

He added that he "wore a taping device to expose the minister".

Dutt was given a ticket by the Samajwadi Party to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow, but will not be able to fight after the Supreme Court Tuesday refused to suspend his conviction for owning illegal arms in the run-up to the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai.

copyright 2009 by IANS.