Assembly Elections 2021: How actor-politicians fared
New Delhi, May 03: Film stars in politics is not a new thing in Indian elections. Parties across party lines have fielded actors and actresses. But how did your favourite stars end up performing?
Kamal Haasan
Actor Kamal Haasan, locked in a rare four-way battle for Coimbatore (South) lost by a margin of 1,728 votes. The actor-turned-politician lost the constituency by over 900 votes.
Kushboo Sundar
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kushboo Sundar lost to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate Ezhilan N had defeated. This was the first time, she contested an election despite being in politics for more than 10 years.
Kushboo had quit the Congress in October last year and joined the BJP. This was her third political stop in a career that had begun with the DMK only 10 years ago.
Udhayanidhi Stalin
Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of DMK president MK Stalin made a victorious poll debut in Chepauk. The constituency is historically associated with his grandfather, the late chief minister M. Karunanidhi, who held the seat between 1996 and 2011.
Suresh Gopi
Suresh Gopi, the National ational award-winning actor contested from the Thrissur constituency in Kerala - the same seat from where he had unsuccessfully contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But failed to make any impact.
Mukesh and K B Ganesh
Film actors Mukesh and K B Ganesh Kumar, both contested as ruling LDF nominees, and well-known producer- actor Mani C Kappan, a UDF candidate, came out victorious, while a handful of their small and big screen colleagues had to settle for distressing second or third positions.
Daleema Jojo
Noted playback singer, Daleema Jojo, who tried her hand as a LDF nominee from Aroor, also won with a comfortable majority defeating sitting Congress MLA Shanimol Usman.
Prominent celebrity losers include comedian Dharmajan Bolgatty, actress Priyanka Anoop, actor-anchor Krishnakumar and television serial actor Vivek Gopan.
Gopi, also a Rajya Sabha MP of BJP, tried his luck from Thrissur constituency, but finished behind LDF and UDF nominees.
He, however, had maintained a lead in some of the rounds in the initial hours and could garner an impressive number of votes.
The saffron party had high stakes in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency where they had fielded G Krishnakumar, a familiar face for film and TV buffs but he failed to create any magic and ended up third.
Dharmajan Bolgatty
Dharmajan Bolgatty, a sought-after comedian in Mollywood, contested on a Congress ticket from Balussery. Though he came second, it was only far behind young Left leader K M Sachin Dev.
Priyanka Anoop
Priyanka Anoop, known for her comedy roles, and Vivek Gopan, who represented Democratic Social Justice Party and BJP respectively, also bit the dust in Aroor and Chavara.
Pala MLA and producer-actor, Mani C Kappan, who switched over to the Congress-led UDF camp, after the LDF denied him the seat, gave a rude shock to the ruling Left camp with a resounding majority against his arch rival and Kerala Congress (M) chief Jose K Mani.
Kappan has essayed various roles in 25 films, produced at least 12 films, besides directing the super hit ''Mannar Mathai Speaking''.
Bengal actors
TMCs winning Tollywood brigade includes director Raj Chakraborty, actors Kanchan Mallick, Soham Chakraborty, June Malliah, and Lovely Maitra.
Actors Papiya Adhikari, Rudranil Ghosh, Parno Mittra, Srabanti Chatterjee, Paayel Sarkar, Tanushree Chakraborty, and Yash Dasgupta of the BJP lost to the TMC.