Karnataka - Mysore   

Stars did not help them shine

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, MAY 14. Candidates in the elections who thought they would secure more votes by having film stars to campaign for them are a disappointed lot today.

The elections saw an unprecedented number of film stars campaigning for parties and their candidates. There was good response to the election meetings attended by film stars, which must have given candidates hope and confidence. But the poll results have come as a rude shock to man of them them.

Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, who was the Congress candidate for the Mysore Lok Sabha seat, brought the bigger names of Bollywood to campaign for him. The charm and star appeal of Namrata Shirodkar and yesteryear comedian Asrani, besides a large number of Bangalore-based models, did not fetch the scion of the Wadiyar dynasty the votes required to enter Parliament.

The Congress nominee from Chamundeshwari constituency, L. Revannasiddaiah, depended to some extent on the popularity of Shruthi and her film-producer husband, Mahender, to fetch some votes for him.

The Congress election managers had calculated that Shruthi would help their party secure the support of women. But this obviously did not happen as Mr. Revannasiddaiah lost to Siddaramaiah of the Janata Dal (S).

Sandesh Nagaraj, who had Jaggesh campaigning for him, lost to H.S. Shankarlinge Gowda of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Chamaraja constiteuncy. The hype over the election campaigning by Kannada star Vishnuvardhan at Hunsur did not help Dwarkish, who contested on a Kannada Nadu Party ticket from Hunsur. He lost to G.T. Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal (Secular).

The president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, S. Ramesh, who contested from Krishnaraja on the Congress ticket, finished third. The Janata Dal (Secular) candidate, M.K. Somashekar, was declared elected.

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