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ATAL Behari Vajpayee proved that he was more than a political super star two decades ago (when he was just an Opposition leader) much better than a galaxy of film stars put together. It happened like this in Andhra Pradesh.

The Congress party was at its worst in 1982 with the film star-turned politician N.T Rama Rao looming large on the political horizon. One winter evening, the BJP had organised a public meeting at the sprawling Nizam college grounds and Vajpayee was the main speaker. The Congress strategists thought that if they organised a film star evening at the Lal Bahadur Stadium (which is on the other side of the road) the crowds may not go to attend Vajpayee's meeting. Low and behold, lakhs of people preferred to listen to the oratory of Vajpayee than to get a glimpse of their favourite film stars. The star night became an utter flop.

Today, the same BJP is wooing film stars and small screen actors and actresses to attract the voters (or is it the crowds). Every day one hears of matinee idols of yesteryears, current heart-throbs and cricket stars joining the party with fanfare with the party president M. Venkaiah Naidu presiding over the ceremony. There was Suresh Oberoi, dream girl Hemamalini, Jitendra, beauty queen Yukhta Mukhi, Poonam Dhillon and cricketer Siddhu and the list is growing every day as the elections near.

South Indian super star Vijaya Shanti is already in the party taking active part.

If one thought that this idea of luring film stars was special to the BJP, it is not so. The Congress party too has its own list, although it may not be as long as the BJP list. The Congress party too admitted Zeenat Amman, Maushmi Chatterjee, Asrani, Om Puri among others. The party had also roped in some stars for campaigning. Both the BJP and Congress were trying to get cricket super star Kapil Dev but they have not succeeded so far. In fact, the competition between the two parties is becoming absurd.

The Samajwadi Party has its own brand of film stars. Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan are produced by Amar Singh at the drop of a hat. A lot of filmstars attend Amar Singh's parties. Raj Babar is the Samjwadi Party MP.

The latest to add to the list is Jayaprada, who was a Telugu Desam MP until recently.

There are two sides to this absurd craze. The political parties, which were selling their ideology to the voters and their promises of better life probably, have nothing more to sell. How can the NDA explain its ideology when it consists of the right wing and socialists with nothing common except sharing of power at the Centre? The BJP has put aside its basic ideologies of Mandir, Article 370 and Civil Code for the sake of its NDA allies. How can the Left parties which were totally opposed to the Congress all along now are friends of Congress in all except three states? What is the ideology of the caste-based parties like the Samajwadi Party or Bahujana Samajwadi Party? The Dravidian parties like the DMK or the AIADMK have changed their stand and lost their relevance. The Congress party is winking in darkness to find its relevance and that is why it has resorted to luring the film stars. Gone are the days when the people came to hear what their leaders had to say about various issues. Today more often the crowds are brought. More than that, no one can be sure the large crowds that come to the public meeting will vote for that particular party. A classic example is that of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Her road shows are clicking and her public meetings have been a great success but when it comes to votes, it has not yielded such good results. Many people come to see her and the party is not able to encash them into votes.

If the political parties are looking to the film stars for campaign why do the film stars want to join a political party? It is simple. They have many examples before them, Tamil Nadu has always preferred people from the film world be it a Karunanidhi or MGR or Jayalalithaa. The Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh chose N.T.Rama Rao when he floated Telugu Desam, He became Chief Minister twice. The BJP has given ministerial berths to Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna and Krishnam Raju. Incidentally, all the three BJP ministers continue their acting career with the permission of the Prime Minister.

They have also been in demand during elections for campaign. What is the standard answer given by the newcomers (stars) to politics? " I have always admired the party and its leaders. I want to serve the public."

A BJP leader let the cat out of the bag by revealing that these new entrants are coached before they are presented to the press. They are given probable questions which the media may ask them. The BJP is also planning to give them a little training in political speeches before they face the public meetings and attach one party member with each star so that they could be guided properly.

The Congress had some difficulty in getting matinee idols. Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde himself convened a meeting and invited the stars to enter the party or at least campaign. Although the initial response was not very good, slowly some stars have joined Congress.