Bollywood and politics are two worlds where if you are able to carry yourself well you are able to stand among the masses. There are celebrities who chose to leave the glamorous world behind and join something that occupies the same amount of drama and excitement – ‘Politics’. These actors-turned-politicians are bestowed with immense love and it is something to take note of. There are several stars who left Bollywood only to join the rat-race of grabbing the ‘Chair’. May be it is their way to check whether the fan base helps them to make a difference in society. Whatever you may call, politics is definitely proved as a fall-back career option for several stars. Here are 10 Bollywood celebrities who turned to politics.
#Smriti Irani: The quintessential daughter-in-law Tulasi has a quite eventful journey in politics. Irani, who fought against Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha Elections in 2014 and even managed to the Gandhi scion a scare by reducing his victory margin to just over one lakh votes, has come a long way in the party and also in the public image.
#Hema Malini: Actress-politician Hema Malini campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Vinod Khanna, former Bollywood actor during the Lok Sabha elections in Gurdaspur, Punjab. From 2003 to 2009, the then President of India APJ Abdul Kalam nominated her as the MP to the Rajya Sabha. She officially joined BJP in 2004 and was appointed as the general secretary of the BJP. In 2014 General Elections, she was elected to Lok Sabha after she defeated Mathura incumbent Jayant Chaudhary. She is also a supporter of PETA India, the animal rights organisation.
#Jaya Bachchan: Veteran actress Jaya Bachchan is one of the most versatile actresses of Indian cinema and has showcased her talent and capability not only as an actress but also as a politician. She has always been quite active when it comes to the political scenario. She is also felicitated with India’s fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri by the Government of India. Recently, the Rajya Sabha MP of Samajwadi Party bagged the Best Woman Parliamentarian of the Year Award.
#Kirron Kher: Kirron Kher started her political career with her involvement with non-profit organisations such as ‘Laadli’ – campaign against female infanticide and ‘Roko Cancer’ – campaign for Cancer awareness. She has also participated in the Anna Hazare’s Indian anti-corruption movement in 2011 but when a section of Anna’s team came up the idea of forming ‘Aam Aadmi Party’ she refused to be part of it stating that the group was better as a non-political organisation. She has always been a vocal admirer of Narendra Modi even before he became the Prime Minister of India and has also campaigned for BJP during the 2011 municipal corporation elections. BJP declared her as the Lok Sabha candidate from Chandigarh for General Elections 2014 and Kirron even won the seat with a good majority.
#Jaya Prada: Former Bollywood actress Jaya Prada bid good bye to Bollywood and made her foray into politics. She started her political career with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1994 but soon left the party following differences with party supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu. She then joined the Samajwadi Party and contested from Rampur Parliamentary Constituency in UP during the 2004 General election and got elected. She was re-elected in 2009.
#Gul Panag: Former beauty queen, model, actress, producer and activist Gul Panag has always inspired us for more than one reasons. In 2014 General election she was the Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Chandigarh to counter actress Kirron Kher. But she came on the third position with 1,08,679 votes with Kher winning the election with 1,91,362 votes. In early 2017, she became a licensed pilot.