PATNA, India -- On Thursday, Indian voters in Patna, capital of the unruly state of Bihar, will face a stark choice for the national Parliament: Will it be "Shotgun" or "Shaker"?
The two aren't local toughs. They're Bollywood stars. Shekhar "Shaker" Suman, an actor and TV talk-show host who models himself on Jay Leno, is running for the Indian National Congress, the party that now runs the ruling coalition. His rival from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is Shatrughan "Shotgun" Sinha, a movie star and a judge on one of the country's most-watched TV talent shows.
The two men are part of a surge of Indian celebrities throwing their hats in the ring this year. Bollywood actors turned politicians have been around almost as long as Indian democracy. But this year, in a race with hundreds of competitors, parties are relying more on celebrity power than ever before, with at least a dozen movie stars and entertainers in the mix.
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Tuesday, May 5, 2009
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