MOVIE STARS + INDIA ELECTIONS - 2014!!!

In the United States, it is pretty rare to see a movie star campaign openly for a political party without getting some nasty reviews.  During President Obama's campaign, some stars who spoke in support of the Democratic Party candidate were told to shut up and leave politics to the pros by number of analysts and pundits.  Politics and stardom don't mix that well in Hollywood; but story is different in Bollywood.

Identifying oneself as a fan of a movie star in India is seen as assertion of one’s identity, which may be regional, linguistic or along caste lines.  Thus Indian fans are said to relate to their favourite stars at a very personal level. The popularity of religious belief in ‘darshan’ or ‘seeing’ the deity.  The Congress party has bought the rights to “Jai Ho”, the Oscar-winning song from “Slumdog Millionaire”, to use for its election campaign.   Why? Didn’t they find anything more interesting in terms of their own election manifesto, to attract voters?

I have no personal problem with "stars" getting involved with politics; sometimes, I have a problem with the level of their ignorance.   Being a "star" doesn't automatically flood one's brain with political wisdom, or even understanding.  So, I think the onus is on the people and those who truly understand the situation to be cautious ask a lot of questions in order to draw out the star's real "political" opinions.   Forget about getting involved in politics;  IN MY OPINION GENERALLY   stars or celebrities should keep out of elections, because?  Because:  Stars might get votes because they are famous and people know them and not because of their policies / future participation/involvements.  It wouldn't be  any worse than  politicians getting votes for their manifesto promises which are then abandoned the day they get elected,  or   voting for a FAMOUS-AGE-OLD-PARTY candidate because that's how we've always voted  (does not matter how corrupt is the party and how old is the candidate (at time 80+ years old as well involve in active politics)).  Our country will continue to remain poor/bankrupt/third-world; as they have been saying for past centuries. Movie starts getting involved in politics in India; is the worst thing ever to happen in the history of our country.

• Congress  is aiming for the local appeal this year by backing Ravi Kishan, Nagma and their veteran player, Raj Babbar. While Ravi Kishan will be contesting from Jaunpur and Nagma from Meerut, Raj Babbar will fight for the Gaziabad seat.
• BJP, on the other hand  has its two stalwarts, Shatrughan Sinha (Patna Sahib) and Hema Malini. The new Bollywood entrants to the party are Paresh Rawal (Ahmedabad East), Joy Bannerjee (Birbhum) and Babul Supriyo (Asansol). Bhojpuri superstar Manoj Tiwari will also contest the Lok Sabha elections from BJP for the northeast Delhi constituency.
• Chandigarh  will see an exciting clash between two very popular Bollywood ladies. Gul Panag will be contesting the seat from the Aam Aadmi Party while her rival will be Kirron Kher from BJP. Gul may have her youth appeal but Kirron Kher is a much loved actress thanks to her stint as a reality TV show judge. It will be interesting to see who comes out the victor in this battle.
• Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress  can boast of names like Moon Moon Sen, Sandhya Sen, Biswajit, Dev, Soumitra Roy, Indranil Sen and others.
• And Rakhi Sawant  too is threatening to contest the elections from a BJP seat. And if Narendra Modi’s party denies her a seat, the item girl intends to fight the elections as an independent candidate.

In my home state Odisha,  in forthcoming 2014 elections; many Odia cine stars are contesting from various seats. 

• BJD (Biju Janta Dal)  has more cine-stars in comparison to others they are Prashanta Nanda, Siddhant  Mohapatra, Anubhav Mohanty, Akash Das Nayak and Papu Pom Pom.  We also seen Prashanta Nanda and Siddhant  from in past elections, but now  Anubhav Mohanty, Akash Das-Nayak, Papu Pom Pom, Mihir Das, Satyaki Mishra and singer Trupti Das are the new faces in this fourthcoming 2014 election.
• The Congress party   has also roped in actors like Bijay Mohanty and Aparajita Mohanty, just not to stay behind with “celebrity factor” in their election campaign. Aparajita candidates from Cuttack while Bijaya Mohanty  from Bhubaneswar central Lok Sabha seats.  
• BJP has famous Odia stars like  Sritam Das, Pinki Pradhan and Pintu Nanda, for them to feel at safe. So; we have 14 cine-stars contesting this time! And most of them, as we know are first timers in politics!

In my humble observation;  in our country;  most of them  join politics when they have failed in their respective fields.  Rarely;  a successful movie star/businessman/artist gets into politics, at the peak of their respective career. Only when they are unsure of their career in their field, they jump into politics.  NOW; if we VOTE irresponsibly;  WHO do we have to blame when they say we are one of poorest states in India, it has been for past 70 years, may will always be, in spite of us being extremely rich in natural resources and water resources!!!  Let’s think, before we vote!!! 

On a lighter note; Which Bollywood celebrity do we think will make it to the corridors of power in Delhi this time?  If we all continue supporting; one day we might feel lucky to have  RAKHI SAWANT  as PRIME MINISTER of our country.  Why not; what wrong we will ask!!! Yeah, what’s wrong; we saw AMMA in Tamilnadu and Behenji in Uttar Pradesh and Didi in West-Bengal. So what’s wrong in  RAKHI SAWANT being PRIME MINISTER?

NOTHING WRONG BABA!   DO WE HAVE OTHERs OPTIONs available to us; is the QUESTION!!! IF NO-ONE ELSE; then WHY NOT ONE OF US???  How much an election costs in India?  Is it more than the collective corruption takes place in one term of the election (5 years)? If we go by the statistics; we will understand why it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to think and vote this time. We want to be right this time; we want to choose right person; the right party –  IT HAS TO HAPPEN NOW!!!  IS IT GOOD TO MIX  OR   SHOULD WE  MIX ACTING  AND  POLITICS  TOGETHER? INFORMED DECISION IS WHAT NEEDED; NOT A BIASED ONE!!!