In West Bengal politics, Trinamool Congress (TMC) President and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee introduced actors and celebrities in the field of culture amid many changes. From young stars like Moon Moon Sen to current artists like Dev, Ms. Banerjee successfully used her star appeal and received political dividends. Even in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he expressed a surprise by nominating Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty, who became Lok Sabha MPs from Basirhat and Jadavpur respectively.
However, the situation is slightly different in the bitter situation in the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal. Both TMC and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have fielded many actors and celebrities, but this is not a cakewalk for them.
TMC has fielded actor Sayoni Ghosh from Asansol South. Union Minister Babul Supriyo won the Asansol seat twice in 2014 and 2019.
Similar is the case with filmmaker and noted director Raj Chakraborty, who has been nominated from Barrackpore assembly seat. Not only will Mr. Chakraborty have to contend with dissatisfaction in the party, but he must also take a stand against BJP MP Arjun Singh, who is leading in this seat. Similarly, another actor, Sayantika Ghosh, has been fielded by the ruling party from Bankura, an assembly constituency in West Bengal, where the BJP had a lead of over 40,000 votes in 2019.
A look at the BJP actor candidates also shows a similar prediction. Among the actors joining the BJP, the party has nominated them in seats where TMC is strong. Payal Sarkar has been fielded for Bahla Purba and Anjana Basu in Sonarpur South – both seats are Trinamool strongholds. Even for Mr. Supriyo, who has been nominated to contest from the Toliganj assembly seat, it is going to be tough. The seat is a TMC stronghold, where the party has nominated Minister Arup Vishwas and nominee Morcha candidate Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate, actor Devdoot Ghosh. Even in the Chandratal seat of Hooghly, where the BJP has fielded Yash Dasgupta as a candidate, he is against the veteran CPI (M) leader Salim.
‘Will not be easy’
Renowned political commentator and professor of political science at Ravindra Bharti University, Biswanath Chakraborty said that it is not easy for stars and actors in these high-level elections.
“These actors can appeal across political lines in difficult circumstances and both BJP and TMC are experimenting at the moment. They want to see if their personal charisma can survive the political divide, ”said Prof. Chakraborty.
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