Kolkata, : Stardom in Bengal reigned supreme in this Lok Sabha election as the electorate seem to have trusted the political ambitions of stars-turned-politicians.
Many of the celebrities fielded by Trinamool Congress (TMC) Supremo Mamata Banerjee in this year like the previous election held in 2014 are intelligent people who have the capacity to make an impact on Bengal politics. Voters trusted them more than career politicians.
Of the five film stars the TMC fielded, only one Moon Moon Sen lost, referred to as the giant killer in the 2014 elections.
Sen, a sitting MP from Bankura, was fielded in Asansol against BJP’s sitting MP and Union Minister Babul Supriyo, who was a Bollywood singer. Supriyo defeated Sen by around 2 lakh votes in a contest marred by violence.
Mamata’s ace cards, young actors Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty have scripted huge victories in Basirhat and Jadavpur constituencies respectively.
Reigning actor Dev and actress Satabdi Roy also managed to retain their seats with comfortable wins.
TMC’s new face Nusrat Jahan has beaten the other Tollywood bigwigs to win Basirhat with the highest vote margin among celebs.
TMC candidate Nusrat won by a margin of 350369 votes against BJP’s state general secretary Sayantan Basu from Basirhat constituency.
After being elected from Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency, the 29-year-old Bengali actress said with a smile, “I’m totally overjoyed. I have no words to express what I feel. The way the people of Basirhat have showered their love on me, and that too, after knowing and interacting with me for such a short while, I’m truly overwhelmed. I can’t express my gratitude enough. So, it’s now my duty to do anything and everything to make life better for them. And that’s exactly what I plan to do and will try to do in the next five years.”
Though this is Nusrat’s first brush with politics, her constituency has been a TMC stronghold for the past few years. The sitting MP for Basirhat is Idris Ali from TMC, known to be a party strongman.
Nusrat was born in a Bengali Muslim family and grew up in Kolkata’s Park Circus area.. She completed her schooling from Our Lady Queen of the Missions School following which she did her B.Com. degree from Bhawanipur College here.
“My father worked in an insurance firm, my mother was a schoolteacher. Though my sister and I had a fairly sheltered life, I was acutely aware of my Muslim identity,” the celebrity Bengali actress said.
Nusrat made inroads to Tollywood through modelling. Her modelling career kickstarted after she won the Fair-One Miss Kolkata beauty pageant in 2010. A year later, she made her Tollywood debut with Raj Chakraborty’s directorial, ‘Shatru’ opposite Bengali superstar, Jeet. And has also appeared in Khoka 420, under the Eskay Movies production house. Her famous movies include Khiladi, Sondhe Namar Agey, jamai 420, Kelor Kirti, Zulfiqar, Ami Je Ke Tomar, Haripada Bandwala and Bolo Dugga Maiki.
In addition to being a highly sought after actresses in Tollywood, she has also secured a safe place for herself in two of the biggest banners in the Bengali industry: Shree Venkatesh Films and Surinder Films. In her 8-year-long career, the nominee from Basirhat has worked in over 15 movies with these banners alone.
Her popularity is not built solely on her acting capabilities, but because she comes off as an immensely warm and humble ghorer meye (daughter of the house) to the city dwellers.
Actress Mimi Chakraborty opened her political account on a Trinamool Congress ticket after winning by a margin of 295239 votes from the prestigious Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat.
Jadavpur, once considered the happy hunting ground of the Left, always hogs the limelight as this is the constituency from where the likes of former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, iconic freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s niece-in-law Krishna Bose, renowned singer-activist Kabir Suman and Harvard University historian Professor Sugata Bose represented Parliament.
After winning from this constituency, Mimi said, “The day I was elected as the candidate, I do not know whether you remember or not, but from the very first day I told people that my victory would come. That’s what it’s today. Many have heard that such a knee-jerk girl is standing in a place like Jadavpur. But the smile, ridicule, Mimi, has given the answer to all.”
“Today, I do not hesitate to say that people will vote in Jadavpur only when a teacher, professor or lawyer is in the election – I broke the myth of Jadavpur. Jadavpur can not be said just this ‘Red Block’. The number of votes I have received since Jadavpur has proved that the number of people asked ‘Youth’. Stood beside this win is the result of collective hard work of all of our team,” she said.
“Let’s say a clear statement today. Mimi will work for everyone who voted me. There will be no scam, ” the actress said.
She further stated, “Being a woman and youth representative, these will be my concerns; I want to focus on youth because they are the next generation. If we don’t work and set an example then who will?”
On balancing here professional and political commitments, the Bengali heartthrob said that she was good at multitasking.
“Balancing act has always been the forte of woman. She has been balancing her house, she has been balancing her work, her children, her husband, her everything,” Mimi said.
“So I don’t think it will not become a difficulty because I know how to balance things,” she added.
UNI.