Vivek Oberoi and Raveena Tandon. Zeenat Aman and Asrani. Mahima Choudhury,Hema Malini,and Smriti Irani. Bollywood stars past and present have been campaigning for various candidates in West Bengal,most of these of the Trinamool Congress and some of the Congress and the Janata Dal (United). Zeenat Aman and Asrani have campaigned for the Trinamool Congresss Entally candidate Paresh Paul,Choudhury for the partys Kamarhati candidate Madan Mitra,and Oberoi and Tandon for the JD(U)s Md Sohrab in Joransanko,where they staged a roadshow on Sunday. One effect the stars have certainly had is to draw the crowds. Hundreds poured into the streets on Sunday,sprinkling rose petals and gulal,and some girls garlanding Oberoi. He and Tandon greeted them with folded hands,smiles and waves. It will take more than that,however,to have the effect the JD(U) would have wished for. Sohrab is pitted against a formidable opponent,the Trinamool Congresss Smita Buxi,besides the CPMs Janaki Singh. The response from the people was tremendous. I hope I will gain from the star campaign, Sohrab says. In the Trinamool camp,Mitra is ecstatic after Choudhury campaigned for him. When celluloid stars campaign for you it not only enhances your acceptability among the masses but also adds colour to your campaign, he says. He does not expect any other Bollywood star coming to campaign in Kolkata,which goes to polls on Wednesday. Paul says Asrani and Aman are good friends of his,whom he often invites them to promote social work he has undertaken,but the decision to campaign was theirs. This time,I did not ask them to come. They volunteered to campaign for me. Paul says he did not seek the permission of Mamata Banerjee. Why do I have to take her permission? Not in these cases. Another Bollywood star who has campaigned for the Trinamool Congress is music director Bappi Lahiri. He campaigned last week for Shikha Mitra in Chowringhee. The BJP has stuck to party leaders in selecting actor campaigners. Hemaji is an MP of the party and Smriti Irani too is an office-bearer. Shatrughan Sinha,who too is one of our leaders,may come but that has not yet been finalised, a leader says. All candidates say they did not pay for the star campaigns. They do it for the sake of their brothers and sisters, Paresh Paul says. The CPM has kept filmstars out of its campaigns. We have our feet firmly rooted to the ground. We do not believe in celluloid campaigns. We believe only in political campaigns, says Rabin Deb,CPM state secretariat member.
