West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has taken the lead in fielding celebrities this election. The Trinamool Congress’s star-dusted list will feature India's best-known footballer Bhaichung Bhutia, veteran film star Moonmoon Sen, and Tollywood sensation Dipak Adhikari (aka Dev).
The list also has unlikely celebrities: Harvard historian Sugata Bose will be out on the campaign trail in Jadavpur.
Fielding non-politicians in both assembly and parliamentary elections has been a time-tested strategy for Mamata. In 2011, the Trinamool Congress rode to power in the West Bengal state elections by deploying several non-politicians against veteran Left Front candidates. By now, Trinamool parliamentarians like actors Tapas Pal and Shatabdi Roy are considered seasoned politicians.
Political observers believe it is a masterstroke for Mamata Banerjee to use star power in the elections. In a party where she has the last word, this is her way of stacking the party with more docile MPs. These political freshers are unexposed to political manoeuvring, and thus susceptible to greater control. In Baharampur, for instance, fielding singer Indranil Sen has helped Mamata to check factionalism within the party.
“Trinamool is fielding known faces because her party lacks strong leaders to take on other parties,” suggested Congress supporter Shaikh Azizul Hoque, a resident of Bahrampur constituency. He added, “This game plan is not going to work here.”
But others think this tactical move will help the party reach a larger audience. “I personally believe Mamata is doing the right thing,” said Mijanur Hoque, a primary teacher from Tulshihata in North Malda, where singer Soumitro Roy from the band Bhumi will take on Congress’ Mousam Benazir Noor. “She is putting celebrity candidates in places where she doesn’t have organisational strength, so this move will help her. A face who everyone recognises immediately fetches votes from those who do not belong to any camp.”
But he agrees that though the Trinamool may attract the young voters who identify with Soumitro’s songs, many elders in his constituency would prefer to vote for a local candidate. “One of my uncles warned me that if we vote for him, soon we will have to sing Tomar Dekha Naire (You Are Not Around),” said Hoque, alluding to the famous song by Bhumi.
However, celebrity value doesn’t always help. Singer Kabir Suman, who was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009, complained that instead of taking him seriously as a leader, Trinamool workers would ask him to sing. He fell out with the party a little later when he accused party workers of obstructing projects he was funding through the MPLAD (Members of Parliament Local Area Development) scheme. He is considering running as an independent this time.
Voters aren’t always impressed, either. For instance, Mamata’s decision to field Moonmoon Sen against seasoned CPM parliamentarian Basudev Acharia has left some in the constituency baffled.
“Basudev Acharia is a senior politician who has won the Bankura seat several times,” said Papiya Mandal, a school teacher in Bankura. “I can’t understand why Trinamool has fielded Moonmoon Sen. Will she be available for us whenever we need her or vanish after elections?”
Some observers believe that Mamata’s strategy isn’t unique. “What is new in this?” asked Samantak Das, professor of comparative literature at Jadavpur University. “I mean US President Ronald Reagan was an actor and changed the course of capitalist discourse in the ’80s. We have many examples in South India, like J Jayalalithaa and NT Rama Rao who were stars but proved their competence in politics as well.”
Das said that many of the celebrities fielded by Mamata are intelligent people who have the capacity to make an impact on Bengal politics. Voters may trust them more than career politicians, especially since money is not an incentive for them to enter politics.
The Trinamool’s celebrity strategy has come in for criticism from its rival, the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Its official newspaper, Ganashakti, said this was a populist move that aimed to deflect attention from the problems of gender violence and farmer suicides in the states. It also alleged that an ideological vacuum in the party has led it to rely more on star power. For its part, the CPI (M)-led Left Front is fielding a large number of candidates who hail from marginalised communities: Muslims, Dalits and adivasis.
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The list also has unlikely celebrities: Harvard historian Sugata Bose will be out on the campaign trail in Jadavpur.
Fielding non-politicians in both assembly and parliamentary elections has been a time-tested strategy for Mamata. In 2011, the Trinamool Congress rode to power in the West Bengal state elections by deploying several non-politicians against veteran Left Front candidates. By now, Trinamool parliamentarians like actors Tapas Pal and Shatabdi Roy are considered seasoned politicians.
Political observers believe it is a masterstroke for Mamata Banerjee to use star power in the elections. In a party where she has the last word, this is her way of stacking the party with more docile MPs. These political freshers are unexposed to political manoeuvring, and thus susceptible to greater control. In Baharampur, for instance, fielding singer Indranil Sen has helped Mamata to check factionalism within the party.
“Trinamool is fielding known faces because her party lacks strong leaders to take on other parties,” suggested Congress supporter Shaikh Azizul Hoque, a resident of Bahrampur constituency. He added, “This game plan is not going to work here.”
But others think this tactical move will help the party reach a larger audience. “I personally believe Mamata is doing the right thing,” said Mijanur Hoque, a primary teacher from Tulshihata in North Malda, where singer Soumitro Roy from the band Bhumi will take on Congress’ Mousam Benazir Noor. “She is putting celebrity candidates in places where she doesn’t have organisational strength, so this move will help her. A face who everyone recognises immediately fetches votes from those who do not belong to any camp.”
But he agrees that though the Trinamool may attract the young voters who identify with Soumitro’s songs, many elders in his constituency would prefer to vote for a local candidate. “One of my uncles warned me that if we vote for him, soon we will have to sing Tomar Dekha Naire (You Are Not Around),” said Hoque, alluding to the famous song by Bhumi.
However, celebrity value doesn’t always help. Singer Kabir Suman, who was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009, complained that instead of taking him seriously as a leader, Trinamool workers would ask him to sing. He fell out with the party a little later when he accused party workers of obstructing projects he was funding through the MPLAD (Members of Parliament Local Area Development) scheme. He is considering running as an independent this time.
Voters aren’t always impressed, either. For instance, Mamata’s decision to field Moonmoon Sen against seasoned CPM parliamentarian Basudev Acharia has left some in the constituency baffled.
“Basudev Acharia is a senior politician who has won the Bankura seat several times,” said Papiya Mandal, a school teacher in Bankura. “I can’t understand why Trinamool has fielded Moonmoon Sen. Will she be available for us whenever we need her or vanish after elections?”
Some observers believe that Mamata’s strategy isn’t unique. “What is new in this?” asked Samantak Das, professor of comparative literature at Jadavpur University. “I mean US President Ronald Reagan was an actor and changed the course of capitalist discourse in the ’80s. We have many examples in South India, like J Jayalalithaa and NT Rama Rao who were stars but proved their competence in politics as well.”
Das said that many of the celebrities fielded by Mamata are intelligent people who have the capacity to make an impact on Bengal politics. Voters may trust them more than career politicians, especially since money is not an incentive for them to enter politics.
The Trinamool’s celebrity strategy has come in for criticism from its rival, the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Its official newspaper, Ganashakti, said this was a populist move that aimed to deflect attention from the problems of gender violence and farmer suicides in the states. It also alleged that an ideological vacuum in the party has led it to rely more on star power. For its part, the CPI (M)-led Left Front is fielding a large number of candidates who hail from marginalised communities: Muslims, Dalits and adivasis.