Bhubaneswar: As celluloid has become an essential ingredient of Indian politics, especially elections, several political parties are roping in stars from the tinsel world to bask in their reflected glory and add a dash of glamour to the campaign for the ongoing simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha.
Apart from big leaders like Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who are campaigning for their party candidates, the parties are infusing ‘star power’ of the film industry to woo the voters.
Recently, BJD’s Jharsuguda Assembly candidate Dipali Das and Sundargarh Assembly nominee Jogesh Singh brought stars like Bhagyashree and Neil Nitin Mukesh of the Hindi film industry to wean away the voters in Jharsuguda and Sundargarh districts recently, said sources.
Similarly, veteran actress Hema Malini, known as ‘Dream Girl’ of Hindi film industry, was also roped in by BJP for campaigning in places like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Deogarh.
This apart, several actors and actresses from Odia film industry hitting the campaign trail also added hues to the hustings.
Odia actors Babushaan Mohanty and Elina Samantaray were seen campaigning for Gautam Buddha Das, BJD candidate for Bhograi Assembly seat under Balasore Lok Sabha segment. They also canvassed for BJD’s Chhatrapur Assembly candidate Subash Chandra Behera.
Star couple Sabyasachi Mishra and Archita Sahu also campaigned for BJD candidates in Berhampur and Kalahandi.
Meanwhile, young Odia stars are also not far behind as Sivani Sangita and Sailendra Samantaray joined campaigning for BJD’s Malkangiri candidate Manas Madkami. Likewise, young actress Suryamayee Mohapatra was also seen campaigning for BJD candidates.
Both BJP and BJD had released the list of ‘star campaigners’ for Odisha which went to polls from May 13. The list includes Babushaan, Elina, Suryamayee, Sivani and others for BJD, and Hema Malini, Pinki Pradhan, Anubhav Mohanty, Sritam Das and Harihar Mohapatra for BJP.
In the hustings 2024, these stars are emerging as big crowd pullers and can be seen in different districts with the party leaders.
The Odia film industry this year is a little divided as several film personalities who were part of BJD for long have switched over to other parties. Big names such as Anubhav Mohanty, Arindam Roy, Sidhanth Mohapatra, Akash Das Nayak, who had been in BJD for many years have joined BJP.
By Arindam Ganguly, OP
