New Delhi: Actor Swara Bhasker, a vocal critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and one of the most prominent faces of the group that’s come to be known as ‘Left-liberals’, campaigned for six candidates in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. All lost.
The six candidates are: Kanhaiya Kumar, who contested as a Communist Party of India (CPI) from Bihar’s Begusarai, Delhi candidates Atishi Marlena, Raghav Chadha and Dilip Pandey of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Digvijaya Singh of the Congress in Bhopal, and Amra Ram of the CPI (Marxist) from Sikar, Rajasthan.
Actor Prakash Raj, also identified as a ‘Left-liberal’, lost as well.
The 2019 election has proved disastrous for India’s ‘Left-liberal’ icons, who projected themselves as the anti-thesis of what is seen as the BJP’s majoritarian politics.
Losses aplenty
Bhasker, who often finds herself in the crosshairs of Twitter trolls for her strident criticism of the BJP, campaigned for a host of first-timers who were expected to ace the election. The campaigns she participated in proved to be crowd-pullers, with dhols, jeep rides and music involved. But all were rejected by the electorate with huge margins.
Kanhaiya lost the election to the BJP’s Giriraj Singh by over four lakh votes. His campaign had also included the likes of comedian Kunal Kamra, known for his jokes against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, as well as Gujarat lawmaker Jignesh Mevani.
The margin of defeat for Atishi Marlena of the AAP, who lost to former cricketer Gautam Gambhir of the BJP in East Delhi, stood at 4.8 lakh. Her party colleague Chadha lost the South Delhi battle to Ramesh Bidhuri of the BJP by 3.7 lakh votes.
In North East Delhi, Pandey of the AAP stood third with a margin of 5.94 lakh votes with BJP victor Manoj Tiwari. Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit of the Congress stood second.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who fought the polls against Pragya Singh Thakur of the BJP, was defeated by the Malegaon terror accused by over 3.6 lakh votes.
With 31,462 votes, Amra Ram was a very, very distant third in Rajasthan’s Sikar, where the BJP’s Sumedhanand Saraswati won with 7.6 lakh votes. The Congress’ Subhash Maharia came second with 4.7 lakh votes.
Also read: Three things Indian liberals held dear were tested this Lok Sabha election
‘Slap on my face’
Southern star Prakash Raj, who contested as an Independent candidate from Karnataka’s Bengaluru Central, polled all of 28,822 votes, with the winner, P.C. Mohan of the BJP, winning 6.01 lakh.
The actor had announced his entry into politics on 1 January 2019, and had begun campaigning — which included riding autorickshaws on the campaign trail — even before he filed his nomination.
Raj has been vocal on social and political issues and frequently attacks the Narendra Modi government.
When the election results were announced, he described it as “a solid slap on my face”.
In a departure from the vitriolic nature of the campaign, Atishi’s tweet after her defeat, as well as Gambhir’s reply, encapsulated the essence of healthy competition.
Thanks for the good wishes, a worthy opposition can never be undervalued. I will surely give u a shout to collaborate for all things constructive. Wish you loads of luck and peace.
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 23, 2019
Congratulations to @GautamGambhir! People of East Delhi have reposed their trust in you. I will always be available for help and collaboration for the betterment of East Delhi. All the best! (1/4)
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) May 23, 2019
Chadha and Kanhaiya also tweeted spirited messages after their rout, with the latter writing in Hindi, “Congratulations to all Indians on the mandate of the biggest democracy. Best wishes to all candidates elected as parliamentarians, and gratitude to all those who supported by campaign. Our struggle for people’s rights will continue with fervour.”
We respect the people's mandate with all humility. Lost we may have, but there is honour & joy in fighting for what one believes to be right.
I pledge to work & serve among people of South Delhi to the best of my abilities. We shall persevere!
Statement:https://t.co/9msxZLlYHQ
— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) May 23, 2019
दुनिया के सबसे बड़े लोकतंत्र के जनादेश पर सभी देशवासियों को बधाई। चुने गए सभी सांसदों को शुभकामनाएँ और चुनाव के दौरान सहयोग व समर्थन करने वाले तमाम लोगों का धन्यवाद। जनता के अधिकारों के लिए हमारा संघर्ष जोश और लगन के साथ जारी रहेगा। ?
— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) May 23, 2019
Pandey congratulated Tiwari for his victory, adding, “I will always be available for the people and parliamentarian of North East Delhi to bring it on a par with the rest of Delhi.”
.@ManojTiwariMP जी को निस्सीम मंगलकामनाएं, जनता का विश्वास हासिल करने के लिए. उत्तर पूर्वी दिल्ली की जनता और उत्तर पूर्वी दिल्ली के सांसद के लिए सदा उपलब्ध, उत्तर पूर्वी दिल्ली को बाक़ी की दिल्ली के बराबर खड़ा करने के लिए. जय हिन्द! ?
— Dilip K. Pandey – दिलीप पाण्डेय (@dilipkpandey) May 23, 2019
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Emigration applicants-
Siddharth Vardharahan
Swara Bhaskar
Girish Karnad
Prakash Rai
Atishi Marlena
Various other urban Naxals
Various tukde tukde gang members
Various award wapsi members
Sagarika ghose who is so ashamed of her faith that she doesn’t even wear a Bindi
Kanhaiya Kumar
Kancha iliah
Mani shankar aiyar
It’s good that they have lost as they are fully disconnected with the realities on the ground and keep living in their imaginary world loaded with outdated ideologies. I hope TV channels will stop inviting these armchair intellectuals for discussions. Instead they should invite more grassroots level leaders to gauge the public mood and set up the polity discussions.
To be fair, the Gangs of Khan Market – not to be confused with those of Wasseypur- are good, decent people, anyone would be happy to split a beer with. Whether they win or lose an election, like a seemul tree in full bloom, they enliven the political landscape.