Shahrukh, Preity to add glamour to Congress campaign

In an election bereft of substantive issues rousing the voters or polarising the parties, Bollywood stars are expected to draw crowds and generate some excitement.

Every star has a following and can bring in the crowds. That is possibly the reason that the Congress party has decided to rope in the services of popular Hindi and South film stars to deliver political dialogues by reading campaign “script” for it in the forthcoming elections.

Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta will canvass for the Congress party in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

Asked if Khan and Preity will be able to campaign following the busy IPL schedule, Union Minister of State for Home and Congress’ third-time candidate Prakash Jaiswal said they will spare time for the purpose.

Bhojpuri actress Nagma, who had plans to test the political waters and sought a ticket from Congress, will now campaign for the party as she did in the last general elections. From being linked with Saurav Ganguly, Ravi Kishan to Dawood Ibrahim, Nagma’s personal life has brought her more fame than her professional life. Obviously, she is expected to draw more crowds than the Congress candidates she is going to campaign for.

According to the magazine Chitramala, another south hottie Trisha is also going to campaign for Congress. The Congress party is serious on adding more glamour for the party and its campaign and has hired Trisha by paying around Rs 2 crore for a 20 day call sheet. She has signed on the agreement and will be readying to campaign.

South actor Nagarjuna too has said he’ll appeal to all his fans to support Congress.

Faced with a tough election ahead, the Congress is also banking on the popularity of the oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire song “Jai Ho..” The Congress has bought the rights of the award-winning song from T-series and is set to use it appropriately once its election campaign gets underway.

Earlier, in last year’s Gujarat Assembly elections, the runaway success of the Shahrukh Khan starrer “Chak De” had inspired the Congress to borrow the film title for its campaign in the state. ”Chak De Congress” posters were splashed liberally across the state during the election.

It’s a different matter that the popularity of the film failed to fetch any dividends for the Congress, which was routed by the BJP.