Star Wars in the Poll Firmament

Locket and Rachana in Hooghly, Hiran and Dev in Ghatal-two pairs of actor-turned-politicians slug it out in the polls

- Arkamoy Datta Majumdar

On March 3, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee appeared on the immensely popular television game show for women, Didi No. 1. As millions watched, the Trinamool Congress chief read out her poems, painted, danced with tribal women and participated in games. Why this surprise appearance, many wondered. They got the answer a week later, when Didi No. 1 host Rachana Banerjee—a former icon of Odia cinema who has also acted in Bengali, Hindi and South Indian films—was named the TMC candidate from the Hooghly constituency, which went to vote on May 20. Rachana took on incumbent BJP MP Locket Chatterjee, herself an actor-turned-politician. A popular entertainer, Mamata must have reasoned, has a better chance to take down a former TV star.