The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) are betting big on star power in the high-pitched assembly elections in West Bengal. Popular actors, singers, and other artists have made their way into both camps. The elections in the state are held in eight phases which started from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
Bengal politics has developed an obsession with the glamour world. The obsession of roping in stars from Bengali film industry and giving them tickets to contest election existed when the Left Front ruled the state for 34 years. Till the last election, only handful Bengali celebrities, mostly from the world of television, adorned the party offices of BJP in Kolkata. But the 2021 election changed the entire scenario. Celebrity candidates became a trend. It seemed TMC and BJP were in some form of a race to rope in the Bengali celebrities.
Most people believe the actors are joining the political race without much of an awareness of political history. Since the parties were chasing them, they are being made to feel important and coveted. There are even unproven accusations of coercion and offering hefty monetary compensations for joining political parties.
Celebrities who joined Bharatiya Janata Party:
Mithun Chakraborty: The 70 year old veteran Bollywood star campaigner for the BJP is not new to politics. The BJP is the third political party for the film star and is now campaigning across the Bengal.
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Babul Supriyo: One of the five MPs the BJP has fielded for the election, Babul Supriyo will contest from Tollygunge seat in Kolkata. He had joined politics ahead of the 2014 assembly election, defeating the ruling Trinamool Congress’ Dola Sen by 60,000 votes.
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Srabanti Chatterjee: BJP has fielded Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee from Behala West Assembly seat against heavyweight TMC leader and state education minister Partha Chatterjee.
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Yash Dasgupta: Popular Bengali actor Yash Dasgupta had joined the BJP on February 17. He had his debut on the big screen with the title role in the Bengali film “Gangster”. The BJP has fielded him from the Chanditala assembly seat in Hooghly.
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Tanusree Chakraborty: Bengali actor and famous model Tanusree Chakraborty will contest the election from Shyampur constituency in Howrah district.
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Paayel Sarkar: Actor Paayel Sarkar has been fielded from Behala Purba. She was recently given Ysecurity in view of the polls. She had joined the party this year in February.
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Rudranil Ghosh: From being an active Left-wing student leader from Howrah's Narasinha Das College to being a close confidante of Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, one of the finest Bengali theatre and film actor, Rudranil Ghosh is now a BJP leader. Ghosh is fighting the election from the Bhabanipur constituency where Banerjee lives and has been elected MLA twice.
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Papiya Adhikari: An actor who recently joined BJP and will contest from Uluberia South constituency against Trinamool Congress candidate Pulak Roy.
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Ashok Dinda: West Bengal's second-highest wicket-taker, Dinda was inducted into the BJP on February 24, almost three weeks after he called it quits having played for Goa in his last domestic appearance. Dinda will fight Trinamool Congress' Sangram Kumar Dolai, a sitting legislator since 2016.
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Hiran Chaterjee: Bengali actor Hiran Chatterjee joined the BJP recently in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Namkhana. Chatterjee, who was the vice-president of TMC’s youth wing, quit the party recently.
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Debashree Bhattacharya: Bengali TV actor and TMC leader Gautam Deb's niece Debashree Bhattacharya also joined the BJP last week. She said BJP is a clean party and hence, I have joined
them.
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Soumili Biswas: An actress who works in Bengali films and television. She has previously modelled for brands, and anchored shows. Biswas is well known for her talent in classical dance.
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Anjana Basu: Noted Bengali actress is being fielded by the BJP for the election. She will contest on the party ticket from Sonarpur South, South 24 Parganas district, facing up most prominently against her film industry colleague Lovely Moitra from Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Celebrities who joined Trinamool Congress:
Aditi Munshi: Folk singer by profession, Aditi Munshi is the wife of TMC youth leader Debraj Chakraborty. She will be taking the political plunge from the Rajarhat Gopalpur assembly constituency which fall in North 24 Paraganas.
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Saayoni Ghosh: The TMC has fielded actor Saayoni Ghosh from Asansol Dakshin, a constituency that the BJP has maintained a lead in the past few elections. Union Minister Babul Supriyo had won the Asansol seat twice – in 2014 and 2019.
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Sayantika Banerjee: Tollywood actor Sayantika Banerjee will contest from Bankura constituency for the TMC. She will compete against BJP candidate NiladriSekhar Dana.
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Koushani Mukherjee: She made her debut in 2015 in the Bengali film industry and has been fielded from the Krishnanagar North seat where the BJP had a lead of 53,551 votes over TMC in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. She is up against BJP national vice president Mukul Roy, a former TMC veteran.
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Raj Chakraborty: Film Director by profession, Raj Chakraborty will be contesting from Barrackpore assembly constituency which falls in North 24 Parganas. Chakraborty is one of the most successful film-makers in Tollywood. He has been associated with TV shows as well.
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Manoj Tiwary: The Trinamool Congress has fielded the cricketer from the Maynaguri constituency which is an SC reserved seat and comes under Jalpaiguri district. Manoj Tiwary had joined the TMC on February 24.
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Bidesh Bose: Footballer (Former Mohun Bagan Captain) by profession, Bose will try his political fortune from Uluberia Purba constituency of Howrah district.
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Lovely Moitra: The TMC has fielded the actress in this assembly polls. Lovely Moitra will take on rivals from Sonarpur Dakshin.
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Dheeraj Pandit: He is a film actor/director who has worked predominantly in Bollywood and has joined TMC before the assembly elections.
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Deepankar De: Actor Dipankar Dey, joined the Trinamool Congress in the presence of the West Bengal Minister Bratya Basu at Trinamool Bhavan.
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Shaona Khan: Shaona Khan joined TMC in the presence of the West Bengal Minister Bratya Basu at Trinamool Bhavan.
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June Malia: June Malia, a renowned actor, joined TMC earlier this year, saying she has taken the plunge after much deliberation. June Malia is contesting from the Medinipur constituency, Paschim Medinipur district.
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Kanchan Mullick: Best known for his popular TV show 'Janata Express', popular comic actor in Bengal, Mallick has worked in movies like 'Mahakaal' and 'Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona'. Riding on Mallick’s popularity, the TMC set high pressure on the saffron camp’s candidate.
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Nusrat Jahan:- A film actress who predominantly works in Bengali cinema, joined TMC in 2019.
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Chiranjeet Chakraborty: As a number of TMC leaders continue to leave the party in West Bengal ahead of the assembly elections, actor-turned-MLA Chiranjeet Chakraborty expressed his desire to quit politics and focus more on acting but Mamta asked him to wait for few days.
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Neel Bhattacharya and Trina Bhattacharya: The husband-wife duo has joined TMC and are backing Mamata Banerjee's party this poll season.
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We will have to wait till May 2 to know how the celebrities influenced the voters in the election and to see whether they were able to bring change or not.
