They are leaving a sinking ship: Aparna Sen on Bengali actors joining BJP

A day after several Bengali actors joined the BJP, noted filmmaker Aparna Sen on Friday said they were leaving a "sinking ship" and drifting towards power.

The actors were with the CPI(M) when it was in power, rallied behind Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee when she took over the reins of the state and are switching over to the BJP when it is gaining ground, she told PTI in an interview.

On Thursday, several Bengali actors, including Parno Mittra, Rishi Kaushik, Kanchana Moitra and Rupanjana Mitra, joined the BJP at its headquarters here in the presence of the party's West Bengal unit head Dilip Ghosh and senior functionary Mukul Roy.

"Now that Mamata is slowly losing ground and the BJP is gaining, they are going to the BJP. Where there is power, they will go. There are people like that. I don't care about them, I don't think about them," Sen, who is in Delhi for the premiere of her film "Ghawre Baire Aaj", said.

"People leave the sinking ship and go where the power is. It's a common human instinct," she added.

Over the years, the TMC has been fielding several Bengali superstars as candidates for elections. Superstar Dev won the Lok Sabha polls for the second term this year, while actors Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty debuted in Parliament this time.

Sen, who is known for being vocal on socio-political issues, said Hindi film stars have to think about the wider range of audience they cater to and that's why they don't publicise their political stands.

"If they are seen to have any political colour, then they will have a problem," the 73-year-old said.

She said the BJP is "gaining ground" in West Bengal due to the failure of the Trinamool government and the lack of a viable alternative. "I don't think they (people of Bengal) see any alternative actually at the moment because TMC government also has failed them and the Left, for all practical purposes, doesn't exist anymore and Congress is also hardly there."
Are her political activities were helping the BJP gain ground?
"No, not at all. I talk to the people Bhatpara and we heard complaints both about BJP and about TMC. We heard a lot of complaints about Arjun Singh (the local BJP MP from Barrackpore). I have all those videos."