After years of rejection, no celebrity quotient in Lko poll arena this time
The Lok Sabha election in Lucknow is missing the celebrity quotient this time. This is a clear departure from the past in which the Opposition, particularly the Samajwadi Party, fielded star candidates here in a bid to make a dent in the BJP citadel.
The BJP’s winning streak in Lucknow began in 1991 when party stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee won the seat for the first time, starting a sequence of five consecutive victories till 2004.
Over the years, in what turned out to be unsuccessful bids to dislodge Vajpayee and later Lalji Tandon and Rajnath Singh (all of the BJP), the Opposition fielded Raj Babbar, Karan Singh, Ram Jethmalani, Poonam Sinha, Nafisa Ali, Javed Jafri, and Muzaffar
Ali, bringing glamour to the political arena, attracting media attention and energising supporters. Lucknow rejected all these star candidates.
This time, the Samajwadi Party has fielded veteran politician and MLA Ravidas Mehrotra against defence minister Rajnath Singh of the BJP, who is seeking a hat-trick of wins from Lucknow, a city known for its history and vibrant culture.
The BJP’s dominance in Lucknow
began in 1991 when Vajpayee easily defeated Ranjeet Singh of the Congress and Mandhata Singh of the Janata Dal.
Subsequently, the Samajwadi Party fielded actor-politician Raj Babbar against Vajpayee in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections but he lost.
In 1998, film-maker Muzaffar Ali was the Samajwadi Party candidate against Atal Bihari Vajpayee but his electoral foray was unsuccessful.
The list of star candidates who lost to Vajpayee also includes Karan Singh (Congress) in 1999 and noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani (Independent) in 2004. Madhu Gupta contested on the
Samajwadi Party ticket and also lost the same year (2004).
After Vajpayee retired from electoral politics, the BJP fielded Lalji Tandon in 2009, prompting the Samajwadi Party to nominate Junoon fame actor Nafisa Ali, who finished in fourth place in the electoral race.
While Lalji Tandon won the seat, Congress candidate Rita Bahguna Joshi was the runner-up and Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Akhilesh Das Gupta was third.
When Rajnath Singh contested the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat for the first time in 2014, the Aam Aadmi Party fielded actor Javed Jafri who finished in fifth place. Rajnath Singh won the seat and Rita Bahuguna Joshi (Congress) was the runner-up again followed by the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Nakul Dubey in third place and the Samajwadi Party’s Abhishek Mishra in fourth place.
In 2019, the Samajwadi Party fielded Poonam Sinha, wife of actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, against Rajnath Singh while the Congress nominated Acharya Pramod Krishnam. Rajnath retained the seat as Lucknow continued the trend of rejecting celebrities at the hustings.
Giving up the star-oriented approach, the Samajwadi Party has named Ravidas Mehrotra as the candidate of the INDIA alliance from the Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency this time. The candidacy of Mehrotra, a veteran politician known for his grassroots connections,marks a departure from the SP’s celebrity-driven campaigns of the past, focusing instead on local concerns and a more grounded approach to politics.
“The absence of high-profile celebrity candidates marks a shift in political sentiment, with a growing emphasis on experience and a deeper connection with local communities. It may also reflect a more pragmatic approach by political parties, recognising that star power alone is not enough to secure electoral victories,” said Professor Manuka Khanna, head of the department of political science at Lucknow University.
“This new focus on seasoned politicians like Mehrotra could reshape the nature of political campaigns in Lucknow. Instead of relying on the glamour of film industry and media attention that celebrities bring, parties may need to engage more directly with constituents, addressing their concerns and offering tangible solutions to the city’s challenges,” Khanna said.
“The implications of this change may extend well beyond Lucknow,” Manuka Khanna added.