Rivals TMC and BJP to unleash star power to woo voters in upcoming polls; a bevy of entertainers switch roles to join politics

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There is a flurry of activities in the tinsel town of West Bengal but for a different reason. More than two dozen stars and familiar faces on the silver screen and television serials have made a beeline to join ruling Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party as the political temperature in the state is heating up before the assembly polls that are scheduled between March 27 and April 29 making the eight-phase exercise the most long-drawn and bitterly fought election among all the five states where elections are being held this year.

There is a virtual race between the two parties in the state to attract celebrity faces. They have joined over the past few weeks.

If the grapevine is to be believed some of those who have joined are set to get tickets for the polls.

Those being seen as favourites to get tickets are actors Yash Dasgupta, Srabanti Chatterjee, Rudranil Ghosh (BJP) and Raj Chakraborty, Sudeshna Roy (directors), actors Saayani Ghosh, Kanchan Mallick and Soham Chakraborty.

Among the prominent names that Mamata Banerjee’s party has enrolled are veteran actor Dipankar De, director Raj Chakraborty, actors Manali Dey, Saayoni Ghosh, Sayantika Banerjee, June Malia, Koushani Mukherjee and cricketer Manoj Tiwari.

After she joined TMC, actor Manali Dey said that Mamata Banerjee and other TMC leader stood by her even in times of personal loss when her mother died. “I was always with Didi but have formally joined now,” she said.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Derek O’Brien who was a famous quizmaster in his early career is holding training session for the new recruits from the film world to teach them how to conduct themselves in the world of politics.

Not to be left behind BJP has netted several faces, the most prominent of them being actor Srabanti Chatterjee.

Other names to join the saffron camp are actor Hiron Chattopadhyay, Kaushik Roy, Papia Adhikari, Payel Sarkar, Rudranil Ghosh, Soumili Biswas, Yash Dasgupta and cricketer Ashok Dinda.

Srabanti Chatterjee joined the party in presence of BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and party West Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh.

Welcoming Chatterjee, Vijayvargiya said that people from Bengal earlier had a big influence on Bollywood. Bengal would again move to a position of great influence in the Hindi film industry once there is a change of guard in the state, he said.

There were also instances of switches from one party to another. Actor Rudranil Ghosh, who was a prominent face in the TMC camp, joined BJP in January.

Both TMC and BJP already have a number of prominent film personalities in their fold in the state.

While TMC has stars such as Nusrat Jahan, Mimi Chakraborty, who have already caught the attention of national media after becoming MPs in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, BJP has names such as Roopa Ganguly (MP), Locket Chatterjee (MP), Agnimitra Paul (fashion designer, now Mahila Morcha president in Bengal), Parno Mitra, Anjana Bose, Rimjhim Mitra in its fold.

Stars such as Mithun Chakraborty were also associated with TMC and was a Rajya Sabha member between April 2014 and December 2016. Moon Moon Sen, too, was an MP of the party in Lok Sabha between 2014 and 2019.

Actors such as Soham Chakraborty, Chiranjit Chakraborty (MLA), Satabdi Roy (Lok Sabha MP), Dipak Adhikari (Lok Sabha MP), Debasree Roy (MLA), Arpita Ghosh (theatre personality) and Indrani Haldar are prominent faces in the TMC.

Though film personalities did take part in elections during the Left rule (1977-2011) in Bengal, it is Mamata Banerjee who was instrumental in inducting popular faces in large numbers in the political fold.

She began inviting persons from the Tollygunge film industry at the party’s flagship political programme on July 21 every year when singers and actors joined the chief minister on a dais and also danced to popular numbers.

Film personalities also joined TMC leaders in campaigns in 2014 Lok Sabha, 2016 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

This year there would be virtual star fight with BJP, too, fielding stars in both the campaign and as candidates to take on TMC’s star power.

BJP leaders often accuse TMC of introducing partisan culture in the state’s film industry and alleged that those who do not support the ruling party did not get jobs in this field.