Assembly elections not short on glamour quotient

While ticket aspirants, particularly in the Congress, are waiting with bated breath for announcement of the list for the May five Assembly polls, one thing appears certain at this stage itself - that the elections would not be short on the glamour quotient.

BSR Congress floated by the former BJP Minister B Sriramulu today two named Kannada actresses - Pooja Gandhi and Rakshita Prem to contest from Raichur and Chamarajanagar, respectively. Pooja, who shot into fame with low-budget film 'Mungaru Male' which went on to become a superhit raking in the moolah and continues to be a sought after actress.

She first joined the JD(S) of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and then set sail with political heavyweight B S Yeddyurappa's Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) for a brief spell before joining forces with BSR Congress. BSR Congress, whose influence is limited to a few

districts, received a drubbing in the recent urban local bodies polls, winning just 86 seats of the total of nearly 5,000 up for grabs.

Rakshita was a leading actress in Sandalwood not so long ago but is a home-maker now after she tied the knot with director Prem. While BSR Congress may appear to steal the march over others vis-a-vis the glamour quotient, Congress is not behind.

Leading Kannada actors Ramya and Bhavana, also a member of the Congress Election Campaign Committee, are set to woo the electorate promising to canvass vigorously in the poll. Congress has also roped in leading Kannada actor Darshan for campaigning.

Also chipping in would be veteran star Ambareesh, who is also a ticket contender from Mandya. It would draft the services of Telugu superstar and Union Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi in districts bordering Andhra Pradesh where Telugu-speaking voters are in sizeable numbers.

Meanwhile, Raju Gouda alias Narasimha Nayak, who had served as Minister in the Jagadish Shettar cabinet but quit recently, joined the JD(S) today in the presence of the party's state unit President H D Kumaraswamy. Gouda was earlier keen to join Congress and was a ticket aspirant from that party, but things did not work out for him.

There is also speculation over the move of Tourism Minister Anand Singh, who said he would take a "decision" on April 11 amid indications he is not averse to contest as an independent if it comes to that.