Marathi stars bring glamour to election campaigns

PUNE: Political parties always look at film stars when it comes to adding glamour to their election campaigns. And what's more, sensing an opportunity to make extra bucks during this assembly election, prominent Marathi film and television actors have been quoting anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 75,000 to lend their time.
Marathi actors and TV stars like Bharat Jadhav, Ankush Choudhary, Vinay Yedekar, Atul Parchure, Nishigandha Wad, Alka Kubal, Varsha Usgaonkar, Bhagyashree, Rahul Solapurkar, Vijay Kadam and Sonali Kulkarni are busy doing road shows to promote candidates of different parties.Some like TV star Adesh Bandekar are themselves in the election fray. Bandekar is contesting on a Shiv Sena ticket from the Mahim assembly constituency in Mumbai.
Actress Nishigandha Wad campaigned for NCP rebel Vilas Lande, who is contesting from the Bhosari constituency, in remote areas on Thursday. The news of Nishigandha's arrival created a flutter among villagers, mostly women, leading to a near-stampede at the venue. "Vote for the right candidate. Go for the candidate, not the party," Nishigandha said while addressing the rally. She also said she would visit again after the elections to celebrate Lande's victory.
While Alka Kubal is campaigning for NCP rebel Laxman Jagtap in Chinchwad, TV actress Sonali Kulkarni has been campaigning for Sulbha Ubale, Sena candidate from Bhosari.
Bharat Jadhav is the brand ambassador' of the MNS and has been campaigning for party candidate Ranjeet Shirole, who is contesting from the Shivajinagar constituency.
On Monday, Bollywood actress Bhagyashree participated in a rally held for independent candidate Vilas Nandgude. Nandgude is contesting from the Chinchwad assembly constituency.
Rahul Solapurkar, who has lent his voice to several audio campaigns of political parties, said though stars bring glamour to political rallies, they should not campaign just for the sake of money. "They should stick to a single political party," he added.
Speaking about stars at election rallies, Ajay Sarpotdar, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal, said, "The presence of a star at an election meeting, inevitably draws crowds. Someone like Nishigandha or Alka can guarantee massive crowds, especially women, in rural areas. Hence, most of the parties rope in stars to attract more and more people.