Ollywood stars among poll probables

Edited by Bijayashree Parida

Bhubaneswar: The forthcoming general elections in the State are likely to witness a star war as the who’s who of Ollywood is set to join the 2014 poll bandwagon.

Falling in line with ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which is credited with beginning the trend of bringing popular cinestars into politics, Congress is also willing to push faces from the film fraternity to the poll battle.

While the party would declare its list of candidates for Lok Sabha elections by the end of this month, the names of two veteran actors – Aparajita Mohanty and Bijoy Mohanty – are doing the rounds as probables for Cuttack and Bhubaneswar constituencies respectively.

Although Congress is tight-lipped on the issue, sources in the know said their names have been recommended to the Central Election Committee (CEC) by the screening committee for approval.

The coming days might see a campaigning clash among the stars as the silver screen veterans would lock horns with the likes of Anubhav Mohanty and Popu pom pom, who have joined the BJD in the recent past.

The Naveen Patnaik-led party also has an actor-turned-MP, Siddhant Mohapatra, who defeated Congress candidate and former Union minister Chandrasekhar Sahu in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.