Face Value and Democracy: Celebrities Contesting 2019 Lok Sabha Elections of India

How much do you believe in face value? Well, a large section of the Indian population is propelled to vote for the popular faces. Commenting on the weapon of popularity used by political parties, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and Assistant Professor at Ashoka University, Neelanjan Sircar said, “What strikes me about bringing in a celebrity is that if he wins, he is no threat to party leadership. He will not be, in any way, a meaningful dissenting way. So a party benefits in two ways – you can potentially pick the seat riding on his fame, and he is no threat because he has no organizational depth within the party. So it is an effective tool to centralise authority.”

Launching celebrities as candidates and prospective ministers of the respective political party have become a trend in Indian politics and 2019 Lok Sabha Election is no exception. While the current environment before the general election is discussed and analysed to seek predictive results, Sheer Analysis and Insights have published a psephological report analysing the democratic structure of the upcoming elections. In that context, let’s go through a list of celebrities freshly contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha Election of India, who are expected to swirl the minds of the Indian democracy.

·        Urmila Matondkar

Bollywood actress, Urmila Matondkar joined the Indian National Congress in the national capital, New Delhi on March 2019. Matondkar is likely to appear as the Congress candidate for the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat for the upcoming election. If nominated, Matondkar's formidable rival would be Bharatiya Janata Party incumbent MP Gopal Shetty in the constituency, which was once regarded a BJP bastion. Mumbai's six Lok Sabha constituencies are going to the polls on April 29, along with 17 others in the state's fourth phase of elections.

·        Nusrat Jahan

An actress and model, Nusrat Jahan will contest elections for the first time in 2019. She will be representing the All India Trinamool Congress at the Basirhat constituency.

·        Mimi Chakraborty

Active in Bengali cinema since 2008, Mimi Chakraborty has entered politics under the banner of AITMC and will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from Jadavpur constituency.

·        Prakash Raj

Actor-activist Prakash Raj, who had on January 1 announced he will enter politics, said he will contest the 2019 general elections from Bengaluru Central as an independent candidate. The actor has been vocal about his reservations with the Narendra Modi government, especially since his close friend and Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh was murdered allegedly by Right-wing members.

·        Shilpa Shinde

Television actor Shilpa Shinde joined the Congress in the presence of its Mumbai unit chief Sanjay Nirupam in February 2019. Shilpa said that she was keen to contest elections, however, did not specify if it was for the Lok Sabha or the state Assembly, both of which are scheduled for this year.

·        Arshi Khan

Arshi Khan has joined the Indian National Congress as the Vice President of Maharashtra.

Now let us go through a list of MPs who are seeking re-election at the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.

·        Deepak Adhikary aka Dev

Reportedly the highest-paid Bengali actor, Dev is also a producer, singer and film writer. He has his own production house and is a veteran politician in his own right. It was his star power that ensured his victory when he fought off veteran CPI leader Santosh Rana and Congress’ Manas Bhuniya in 2014. Dev garnered 6,85,122 votes and defeated Rana by a margin of 2,60,939 votes.

·        Babul Supriyo (Baral)

An Indian playback singer, live performer, television host, actor, politician, and member of Parliament from Asansol, Babul Supriyo defeated Dola Sen from AITMC in the 2014 Lok Sabha Election. This year again he is gearing up to contest against Moonmoon Sen from AITMC.

·        Hema Malini

Bollywood Veteran, Hema Malini is seeking re-election from the Uttar Pradesh constituency of Mathura.

·        Sreemati Dev Verma aka Moonmoon Sen

Famous for her former presences in Bengali films, Moonmoon Sen has been fielded at Bankura constituency by CM Mamata Banerjee for the 2019 Lok Sabha Election.

·        Kirron Kher

Member of the Parliament, actor and famous personality from Bollywood, Kirron Kher is one among the three candidates shortlisted by BJP to contest the 2019 elections from the Chandigarh constituency.

·        Shatrughan Sinha

Actor-politician Shatrughan Singha has switched his candidature from BJP to AIC who will contest from the same seat of Bihar’s Patna Sahib against BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad. Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal while welcoming him into the party fold from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) commented that Sinha is the "best politician who was earlier with the wrong party".

In addition, the BJP is banking on the popularity of some of Bhojpuri film industry's biggest stars to see it through a clutch of Lok Sabha seats in eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
All big stars of the Bhojpuri film industry like Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan, Nirahua, Pawan Singh are with the BJP.