Playing after 50 years, a celeb show since Nawab Pataudi came for votes

Gurgaon: Yashpal Arora was a huge fan of his cover drive and her smile. So, when Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and wife Sharmila Tagore came to the city asking for votes, he was one of the first to reach the ground where the cricketer-actor couple were to hold a rally.

It’s taken more than 50 years for elections in this constituency to take another celebrity turn. There are two in fact, this time, appealing to different personalities and different generations. Bollywood star-turned-politician Raj Babbar (71) is the Congress candidate. Singer-rapper Rahul Yadav aka Fazilpuria, half Babbar’s age, is representing JJP.

‘Tiger Pataudi’ came to the election scene in 1971 when Rao Birender Singh formed Vishal Haryana Party after parting ways with Congress and asked the then Indian cricket team captain to contest on a party ticket.

Singh, who wielded considerable clout in the Ahirwal region of south Haryana, was hoping to cash in on support from Muslim and Yadav communities. And since Nawab Pataudi was already a national sports icon, he was thought to be the ideal candidate.

Old timers recalled MAK Pataudi went from village to village in his limousine, and where the road was bad, would switch to a jeep. If the terrain was tough even for the jeep, he would ride a camel. He was accompanied by Sharmila, who had already delivered hits like ‘Aradhana’ and ‘An Evening In Paris’. Like in cricket stadiums, huge crowds would gather to catch a glimpse of them.

Arora was in his early 30s then. “Forget social media, there was no TV or radio in most households. We would know our stars through newspaper cuttings and hoardings. So, when we learnt that Tiger Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore were coming to a ground near our house, we gathered in large numbers to see them,” the retired govt employee recollected.

The star power, however, failed to attract votes. Although his rallies drew huge crowds, MAK Pataudi managed to garner only 5.9% of the total votes polled, finishing third. In 1978, Vishal Haryana Party merged with Congress.

Like in 1971, celebrities are not the frontrunners. Rao Birender’s son Rao Inderjit Singh is the incumbent MP in Gurgaon, having won five Lok Sabha terms from here already. But Babbar and Fazilpuria’s entry has brought the contest alive, on the streets and online, with well-known personalities from different fields throwing their weight behind one candidate or another.

Babbar, who has been battling the “outsider” tag, has been reaching out to voters by telling them he wants to stay here and make the city his home. His pitches are emotional. According to sources, Congress tried to get Sharmila to contest from Gurgaon this time, before eventually naming Babbar as candidate, nearly a week after it brought out its Haryana list.

Fazilpuria, who is making his electoral debut, has launched scathing attacks on Rao Inderjit Singh, calling him inaccessible and asking him to retire.