View: Why BJP and TMC are in a celeb-wooing competition
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Stars and politicians are no strangers in Bengal. Before he became a Trinamool-nominated Rajya Sabha MP Mithun Chakraborty was so close to Left Front minister Subhas Chakraborty that he organised a star-studded flood relief extravaganza and got Amitabh Bachchan to come for it.
AFP
Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty, a former Trinamool Rajya Sabha member, addresses a mass rally which was attended by India's PM Narendra Modi, ahead of the state legislative assembly elections.
The BJP must have heaved a sigh of relief when Mithun Chakraborty strode onto the stage next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his recent rally in Kolkata. For weeks rumours had been swirling that Bengal’s reigning superstar Prasenjit Chatterjee might attend or Sourav Ganguly. Neither obliged, but Mithun-da, a bona fide “son of Bengal” saved the day though a meme quipped the BJP had ordered the latest hottest Dada and Amazon delivered a much older model instead. But celebrity, whatever the vintage, matters in Bengal.