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Our Bureau

New Delhi , May 13

THE glitter of tinsel town has caught the fancy of the electorate. Voters not only came in huge numbers to see their favourite stars from the cinema or television world, but also converted their presence at the rallies into ballots by voting them in.

While lawyer Kapil Sibal ousted the country's favourite bahu, Smriti Tulsi Irrani in the Capital's Chandni Chowk constituency, Nafisa Ali's charms could not beat Mamtadi's down-to-earth "for the people, by the people and of the people" banter in Kolkata and Bhupen Hazarika's tunes were not melodious enough to the voter's ears till late in the evening. Even Moushmi Chatterjee was trailing.

However, the now famous Sidhuisms of cricketer Navjyot Singh Sidhu and Dharmendra, despite kitchen kitsch, both batting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), managed to win the hearts of the voters.

Similarly, Hero No. 1, Govinda's efforts of wooing voters at railway stations did not match Ram Naik's pertro-talk, while Jaya Pradha simply charmed her way in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh.

Others such as veteran politician, Sunil Dutt and second time Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur, Vinod Khanna also ploughed their way back.

The celeb score by both the parties is more-or-less even with three candidates each from the Congress and the BJP winning elections. Amongst the losers, two star candidates from the BJP lost compared to the Congress' one.

On the eve of Elections 2004, the two political parties had competed with each other to get celebrities on to their side. Besides, star candidates, a whole host of stars and starlets were roped in to campaign for the elections.

Whether these star Parliamentarians will live up to the promises made to voters or return back to showbiz will be known later, but for now, these showstoppers are definitely set to add some glamour to politics.

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