Indore: The porn star turned B-town actor Sunny Leone has found a backer as Patidar quota head Hardik Patel on Sunday said she deserved respect, irrespective of her past, like any other mainstream Bollywood actress.

"Why can't we view Sunny Leone as an actress on screen independent of her old image? What's the problem if we look at her the way we look at actresses Nargis, Sridevi, or Madhuri Dixit. If our thinking is such that we still want to see Sunny Leone on the basis of her old image (as a porn star), then this country can never change," Patel stated while responding to a question on his views on the Bollywood actress during a press conference here.

Patel had reportedly spoken in favor of the actress in the past as well.

He was in the city to declare a 'yatra' he would be embarking on next month across Madhya Pradesh to create "awareness" among voters.

Patel said Leone deserves respect as a film actress. Responding to another query, Patel stated that the BJP was "greedy" for power.

He expressed worry that no elections would be held in the country after 2019 if Narendra Modi becomes Prime Minister again.

When query raised  about the basis of his anxity, Patel said, "The way the BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa was given the opportunity by Karnataka governor to form government despite lacking numbers, it appears that preparations are on to discard the Constitution in the country."