Just like in the previous in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Trinamool Congress is again banking on its movie star candidates to fetch votes.
Five of the 42 TMC candidates are actors, giving party chief Mamata Banerjee enough confidence that these stars will bag votes in crucial constituencies such as Jadavpur, Bashirhat and Asansol.
The two new actors who join the fray are actors Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan. The two have replaced actors and incumbent MPs Tapas Paul and Sandhya Roy. Paul, a former MLA, is believed to have been dropped due to his arrest in the Rose Valley scam in December 2016. He is currently out on bail. He had also made several controversial remarks in public speeches, which reportedly did not go down well with the party. Roy, on the other hand, had expressed her desire to be involved in the party without much running around.
Mimi has been pitted against Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, a Left Front candidate and former mayor, from Jadavpur. Mimi is being seen as a neutral candidate to counter the factionalism/infighting in the TMC. This is the seat which Mamata had contested on with a Congress ticket and won against former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee in 1984.
“I am hopeful about the entire experience. I want to be there for the people as didi (Mamata) thought I am capable of pulling this off. I am honoured and I ask my fans to consider me and cast my vote,” Mimi said.
Nusrat Jahan will be contesting from the minority-dominated Basirhat constituency. “I am very happy that didi has shown faith in me. There is a politician in every actor. Also, the move to choose 41% candidates as women is a welcome step by her,” she said.
Both the young actresses are being trolled on the social media for their entry into politics. Mimi said she is choosing to keep negativity away and focusing on positivity to carry out the responsibilities entrusted upon her by the TMC supremo.
But BJP state president Dilip Ghosh has been questioning how an actor like Mimi can be fielded from an important constituency like Jadavpur, which has seen veterans Manish Gupta and Sugata Bose. “Mamata is compromising on the dignity of the party,” Ghosh said.
The actors and incumbent MPs who remain in the fray are Moon Moon Sen, Dev and Shatabdi Roy. Moon Moon Sen, however, has been shifted from Bankura constituency and fielded against Babul Supriyo, the incumbent BJP MP from Asansol.
Apart from being a popular actor, Moon Moon is also seen as a neutral candidate, unlike the previous TMC candidate from Asansol who lost to political factionalism. Dev has done substantial work which is likely to win him votes apart from his charisma working in his favour. Two-time MP Shatabdi Roy retains her candidature from Birbhum.
What makes Mamata choose stars to garner votes? According to political analysts, she is seen as a politician who also likes to look at herself as a creative person who is interested in books, arts and music. Whether by renaming metro stations after erstwhile actors and singers or using quotes from Bengali poets in her speeches, Mamata has shown her inclination towards the creative world.
“Mamata cleverly went for little TV stars who have a huge mass appeal. She will do what it takes to appeal to the widest cross sections of people who represent the creative arts. One way of doing it is by including people from the creative fields to reach out to the middle-class and working population that respects cinema, theatre, books and music. These stars also appeal to the younger generation,” pointed out Shikha Mukherjee, political analyst.
Another political analyst Udayan Bandhopadhyay says Mimi and Nusrat have been because of their popularity. “No matter which constituency, the candidate from the TMC is always Mamata. Mimi and Nusrat have been chosen for popularity as Mamata thinks this will work in these constituencies. Star power has not benefited TMC beyond garnering votes as they often don’t have a political vision and are not political activists. They will not speak for the party, but will only raise hands to show support in favour of the party on an issue in the Parliament.”
Till date 13 stars from the creative fields have joined the TMC and it has worked in the party’s favour.
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