As voters across the country express enthusiasm for star candidates, both established and newcomers, attention is directed to the performance of first-time Members of Parliament (MPs) like Kangana Ranaut and Arun Govil, next to seasoned politicians such as Hema Malini and Manoj Tiwari, in the 18th Lok Sabha.
The country voted from April 19 to June 1 in seven phases to elect the 543 members of the lower house of Parliament, and in this election, many new faces from the entertainment industry entered the political fray.
Ranaut, a leading actress in Hindi cinema and known for her open endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, scored her first electoral victory from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, by defeating the Congress party's Vikramaditya Singh and Pratibha Singh. Considered outspoken and candid, Ranaut took a pledge to work for the people after her victory, and now all eyes are on her functioning as a first-time MP.
Likewise, Govil, famous for his role as Lord Ram in the popular TV serial "Ramayan," contested and won from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, in a pitched battle against Sunita Yadav of the Samajwadi Party. After some wobbliness in the early rounds, it was only God who really clicked with the voters and won.
Hema Malini scored a hat trick in the Lok Sabha from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, by defeating Congress party candidate Mukesh Dhangar. Her popularity across the country and her image as the 'savior of Lord Krishna' assured her the base in Mathura, a prominent center of religious confluence.
Tiwari, a former Bhojpuri cinema star-singer, won from North East Delhi by beating Congress rival Kanhaiya Kumar, to record his third consecutive win from the constituency. This is how the cookie has been crumbling for him.
Other key wins have been Ravi Kishan retaining his seat from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, Suresh Gopi winning from Kerala's Thrissur, and Shatrughan Sinha defeating his rivals in Asansol, West Bengal.
In fact, not all celebrity candidates were that lucky, such as when Smriti Irani lost in Amethi to Kishorilal Sharma of the Congress or Dinesh Lal Yadav to Dharmendra Yadav in Azamgarh.
The mix of film personalities in politics is not new, with Nargis and Sunil Dutt or Amitabh Bachchan having entered the field in the past. In the current scenario, personalities like Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj, and Urmila Matondkar continue that tradition and straddle the world of entertainment and that of governance.
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