With the end of the seventh phase of elections on 19th May, the voting for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections has finally come to a close. Each and every party gave it all in order to influence their voters, not hesitating to field star candidates. As such, people would like to know whether their favorite star candidates could gain some ground in their respective constituencies.
Following the exit polls, which have overwhelmingly predicted a hands-down victory for the BJP-led NDA alliance, India Today has laid out a constituency-wise exit poll for each candidate. As such, they have also predicted the possible results for some of the famous celebrities, who contested the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, as posted in the following tweet by Rahul Kanwal:
Here’s a look at what @IndiaToday @AxisMyIndia exit poll says about fate of some of the star candidates in 2019 elections. There’s an interactive database that’s live on our website, you can type in the name of a seat and find out what the poll says. Link: https://t.co/3owDoq9pKE pic.twitter.com/r1pDaywiZU
— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) May 21, 2019
India Today-My Axis poll also predicted a thumping victory for both BJP and the allies who constitute the National Democratic Alliance. According to the exit poll, BJP can look forward to a whopping 300+ seats on their own, apart from a surprising total of 360+ seats for the NDA. Interestingly, the decision to include a generous dose of star power has worked wonders for NDA according to this exit poll.
During the Lok Sabha elections, BJP included known faces from the field of cinema, sports, literature as the list goes on. Be it Paralympics silver medalist Deepa Malik, or singer Hans Raj Hans, or celebrated cricketer Gautam Gambhir, or even the iconic actor Sunny Deol, BJP invested well into the star power. They even included Bhojpuri stars like Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ and Ravi Kishan into the party, posing direct challenges in the much-touted constituencies of Azamgarh and Gorakhpur respectively.
Not wanting to be left behind, the opposition also tried to attract other stars to the fold, whether it was actress Mariam Akhtar Mir (known by her former name Urmila Matondkar) or boxer Vijender Singh for Congress, or former actress Poonam Sinha for Samajwadi Party, or even actresses like Mimi Chakraborty, Moon Moon Sen and Nusrat Jahan Rutty for Trinamool Congress etc.
However, as per the exit polls, it looks like BJP led NDA will have the last laugh in terms of using the star power well. Sunny Deol, Ravi Kishan, Hans Raj Hans, Gautam Gambhir, etc are all set to join the Lok Sabha as per the exit polls. Even Babul Supriyo is expected to romp home with a comfortable victory. Though it might be a tough fight for candidates like Jaya Prada, Manoj Tiwari and Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’, they’re expected to not go down without a tough fight
On the other hand, the opposition seems to have lost this contest as well. Urmila Matondkar, Vijender Singh, etc are all set to score a duck in their respective constituencies, while Poonam Sinha seems to have led a futile fight against the BJP candidate from Lucknow and current Home Minister, Rajnath Singh. For candidates like Raj Babbar and Shatrughan Sinha, the lesser said, the better.
Whether or not the predictions actually turn out to be true will be ultimately decided on 23rd May. But there is one thing for sure, going by the outcome of exit polls, BJP is gaining a significant foothold in terms of fielding star candidates to their advantage.