The guest list of CPI candidate, Kanhaiya Kumar, on April 9, when he files his nomination papers for the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat, promises to be a star-studded one, with Bollywood celebrities expected to attend the jamboree.
Leading the pack in what promises to be Kanhaiya’s show of solidarity, could be the famous Bollywood couple of Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi.
The poet, lyricist, screenwriter and recipient of the Padma and the Sahitya Akademi awards, and his wife, a noted film, TV and theatre actress, are, however, yet to confirm their participation.
“We expect them (Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar) to come either for the April 9 show or even later, when the campaigning peaks,” said Prince Kumar, younger brother of Kanhaiya.
The show also promises to have glitz and glamour. Swara Bhaskar, who shot to fame with her supporting role of a bride-to-be in the commercially successful romantic comedy Tanu Weds Manu (2011), is also expected to attend Kanhaiya’s nomination, claimed Prince.
Gurmehar Kaur, a student activist and author, and Shehla Rashid Shora, a politician and Ph.D. student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, also figure in the tentative guest list.
Prakash Raj, a multilingual film actor, film director, thespian and politician, will also join Raj is contesting the Bengalore Central Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate. “Among those certain to be here on the day of nomination are Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mevani,” said Prince.
While Hardik led the Patidar reservation agitation before joining the Congress, Jignesh, a social activist and lawyer, is a legislator from the Vadgam constituency in Gujarat.
Also extending solidarity with Kanhaiya could also be Rohit Chakravarti Vermula’s mother. A Ph.D student at the University of Hyderabad, who took on the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad over the screening of a documentary “Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai” at Delhi University, Vermula raised his voice for a casteless society before committing suicide.
The mother of Najeeb Ahmed,the JNU student who went missing under suspicious circumstances, is also expected.