Political parties bank on star campaigners to woo voters

New

, Nov 18: With just a little over two weeks left for assembly elections, political parties are all set to woo Delhi voters with their respective star campaigners addressing rallies in the coming days.

BJP is banking on its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and celebrities Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna and Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari to draw voters, while Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will seek fourth term for Sheila Dikshit government.

From Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), party convener Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan will campaign as star campaigners.

BJP, Congress and Bahujan Samajwadi Party have released a list of 40 star campaigners each for the Delhi assembly polls, while AAP has announced 17 names.

BJP patriarch L K Advani, party chief Rajnath Singh, Delhi election incharge Nitin Gadkari, Delhi CM candidate Harsh Vardhan, Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel and party senior leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Murali Manohar Joshi, Vasundhara Raje, B C Khanduri and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan are also in the list of star campaigners.

Besides, cricketer Navjot Singh Siddhu, Smriti Irani and Varun Gandhi will also canvass for the party. Congress' list comprises Dikshit, Delhi Congress chief J P Agarwal and Union Ministers Sushilkumar Shinde, Kamal Nath, Manish Tewari, Sachin Pilot, Ghulam Nabi Azad and MP Raj Babbar, among others.

BJP is banking on Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna & Manoj Tiwari.

The Congress star campaigners list also includes Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. BSP supremo Mayawati along with senior leaders Satish Chandra Mishra and Naseemuddin Siddiqui will address rallies in Delhi.

Aam Aadmi Party's other star speakers include Kumar Vishwas, Shazia Ilmi and TV actor Praveen Kumar.

The Election Commission has recently held that political parties would have to bear the expenses for inviting star campaigners.

According to Election Commission, political parties will have to bear the expenses on inviting star campaigners but in case a candidate shares dais with the star or exhibits his photo or poster with his name, the money spent will be included in his account.

Moreover, registered political parties can appoint not more than 20 star campaigners, although for recognised parties like Congress, BJP, BSP, NCP, CPI and CPI(M), the limit is 40.

PTI