“I am Draupadi, the daughter of fire, and have taken birth so that all the Dussashans of the Trinamool Congress can be killed,” Roopa Ganguly, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from the Howrah Uttar Assembly constituency, said at an election rally, falling back on her most famous role of the Pandava queen in the mega television serial Mahabharata .
By the loud cheers of the crowd, it is evident that she has not lost her star status, however averse she may be to the idea of being called an “actor-turned-politician”.
“I have quit acting and not acted over the past one year,” Ms. Ganguly said in an interview to The Hindu , adding that years later, she might consider the role of a nani’s nani (grandmother’s grandmother), but acting is out of her priorities for now.
While she refuses to talk about the other political contenders, she emphasises that she can connect with the people.
“I am not a politician-type politician and I want to remain that,” she said. “Winning or losing elections is not important. What is important is that I have taken the plunge,” Ms. Ganguly, 49, president of the Mahila Morcha Bengal unit, said.
