Star dust in Karnataka politics

Kannada actor Pooja Gandhi of Mungaru Male fame joined the JD(S) formally on Wednesday. The man who gave her a break in Mungaru Male, producer E Krishnappa, is an MLC in the party. The party wants glam to entice the ballot..
Pooja is not the lone star in politics. Last year, popular actor Ramya joined the Congress. The May 2008 assembly polls was a big occasion for film personalities.Actors Umashree, C P Yogeshwar, Sai Kumar, Hemasri, Jaggesh, Ambareesh, BC Patil, Kumar Bangarappa, director S Mahendar, producer E Krishnappa and Madhu Bangarappa contested the polls. However, lady luck smiled only on Yogeshwar, Patil and Jaggesh.
None of them have had it easy. Some stars have lost in the elections at least once. The defeat has made several quit politics and return to doing what they are good at - selling dreams.
However, some have tasted success -- Ananth Nag (MLA once), Ambareesh (three times MP), Shashikumar (MP once), Kumar Bangarappa (MLA thrice), B C Patil (won twice and currently MLA), Jaggesh (MLA once) and CP Yogeshwar (MLA four times). E Krishnappa became MLC after fighting an election to the council.
Of the Big 3, BJP leads in the star brigade. In the LS polls of 2009, of the 40 star campaigners in the state BJP, seven were film personalities, four of them from the Kannada film industry and three from Bollywood -- Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha and Smriti Irani.
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The people of Karnataka are sensible. They clearly distinguish between cinema and politics. They don't mix the two. The voting pattern is different. The culture of voting just because some one is a film star does not exist here.
VH Suresh | secretary, Karnataka film chamber of commerce