Celebrity endorsements seem to be a sought-after commodity for politicians contesting the Lok Sabha elections this season.
However, the alleged quest of two rival candidates to harness star power to gain increased visibility, tap into fans’ emotional connection with their icons, access different demographics, and stoke heightened media interest in their respective campaigns appeared to have run into strong headwinds at least in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala.
Also Read | Election fever already grips Thrissur constituency
For one, V.S. Sunil Kumar, a former Minister and Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate from the parliamentary segment, had to withdraw pictures of himself with actor Tovino Thomas from the former’s social media campaign page.
Without naming the CPI or Mr. Kumar, Tovino Thomas objected to using his image to sway voter preference in favour of any particular candidate.
In a social media post, the actor said he was a Chief Election Commission (CEC) envoy for the Central Election Commission’s Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation Programme (SVEEP) in Kerala. Hence, using his name or photograph for campaign purposes was illegal.
Actor and politician Suresh Gopi, the BJP candidate in the Thrissur constituency, was mired in a comparable predicament. His rivals accused him of attempting to tap into the local electorate’s deep love for temple arts by trying to induce veteran Kathakali exponent Kalamandalam Gopi into endorsing him.
The BJP arguably found itself in a tight spot after Kalamandalam Gopi’s son claimed that his father had rejected a request to receive the actor-turned-politician at a made-for-television event at home in return for a Padma Bhushan award. He later deleted the post.
Suresh Gopi later stated he deeply venerated great teachers and aspired to meet them, irrespective of politics. “If great teachers do not wish to meet me, I will pray before Lord Guruvayurappan, the greatest teacher of all teachers,” he said.
CPI(M) attacks BJP
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan attacked the BJP for “using threats and inducements to arm-twist celebrities” into endorsing its candidates.
CPI(M) Politburo member M.A. Baby said there was “no artistic equivalency between stars of slugfest movies and classical artistes such as Gopi Asan.”
The controversies have also raised the question of whether the high-profile nature of celebrity endorsements would eclipse political discourse and force pressing issues to take a back seat to the cult of personality.
