Kollywood stars a no-show on campaign trail this byelection

CHENNAI: In April, a battery of actors had descended on RK Nagar for a high decibel campaign before the bypoll was cancelled. Seven months down the line, the constituency that elected late chief minister J Jayalalithaa twice to the state legislature is yet to see the active participation of stars from filmdom or the small screen in canvassing.
“It is surprising that none from the film fraternity is visible since the previous election campaign here involved noted film personalities representing the AIADMK or DMK,” said R Dhanapal, of CG Colony in Tondiarpet.
Several film stars including actors C R Saraswathi, Gundu Kalyanam, Mano Bala and former MP Vijayashanthi had hit the campaign trail in April. While actor-turned-politician and DMDK leader Vijayakanth took to the streets for his party candidate, musician Gangai Amaran was granted a BJP ticket. Such scenes are a thing of the past. Despite actors being crowd pullers, we have not seen any popular actor this time,” Basha, who runs a shop on Varadaraja Perumal Koil Street, said. AIADMK supporter and actor Mano Bala said he could not canvass this time because of his film shooting schedule.
“I am abroad for shooting and would be returning to Chennai on December 19,” the actor told TOI.
However, C R Saraswathi, a staunch supporter of ousted AIADMK leader T T V Dhinakaran, said artists backing him have already hit the streets. “Seven from the Tamil film industry are canvassing for Dhinakaran,” she said. Two more actors will join us soon, she added. When contacted, senior AIADMK leader and former minister K P Munusamy said more actors supporting the AIADMK will campaign as the polling date comes closer.