New Delhi, Nov 21: With celluloid becoming an active ingredient of Indian politics, parties of all hues have roped in stars of the tinsel world to bask in their reflected glory and add a dash of glamour to the campaign for the December 1 elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly. The plum role of the showbiz world in politics, coupled with the frenzied adulation of fans for their icons, has led political parties to hope that the presence of stars in flesh and blood will catalyse the voters preference in their favour. Thus, along with the popular heroes and dazzling nymphets, there are also comedians, villains and cameos, who have removed grease and paint to enact a new script in the uncertain domain of realpolitik.

Stars of cricket, another passion of Indians, have also decided to lend their sheen to the campaign of some of the candidates. Main opposition BJP, desperate to improve its tally of 14 legislators in the outgoing house, got a shot in the arm when the country's favourite daughter-in-law Smriti Irani, famously known as Tulsi Virani of ''Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' soap, joined the party.

The party's pantheon of stars, who have already joined the portals of powers, include Minister of State for External Affairs Vinod Khanna, Shipping Minister Shatrughan Sinha and two new entrants in the Rajya Sabha - Hema Malini and Dara Hanuman Singh.

Introducing herself as the youngest member in the BJP family, Smriti was a star attraction at Ghanta Ghar in Chandni Chowk from where the BJP kicked off its campaign. And the glee on the face of Madan Lal Khurana, the ageing patriarch of Delhi politics and party's chief ministerial prospect, was more than obvious as people waited patiently for her arrival. When she arrived, they heard, in rapt attention, every bit of what she had to say. Bureau Report