14 May 2004	Friday	23 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

NEW DELHI, May 13: Their critics said they reduced the serious business of politics to mindless entertainment, but the Indian people voted for several Bollywood stars in surprise victories announced Thursday.

The biggest upset of the day was in Mumbai, home to Bollywood, where actor Govinda of the Congress Party defeated federal Petroleum Minister Ram Naik of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Bombay north constituency by 48,271 votes.

Govinda is better known for his garish clothes - yellow trousers, purple jackets, red floral shirts - and on-screen antics. Naik had won five times before. But Govinda, who had a very modest start in life, said during his campaign that he understood the problems of the poor. "My life has been a struggle, nothing came easy." He promised to focus on issues like housing, commuting and healthcare in parliament.

Another actor, Sunil Dutt, trounced Sanjay Nirupam of the rightwing Hindu Shiv Sena, a BJP ally, from the Bombay north-west constituency by 47,358 votes. It is common for political parties to use actors during election campaigns to draw large crowds to rallies in this film-crazy nation. Now several stars will make their way to parliament.

In this heavily-televised election, many said the glitter of the celebrity campaigners and candidates detracted from serious poll issues. In hot and dusty Bikaner in the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan, actor Dharamendra campaigned in cargo pants for the BJP. He told voters he is a farmer's son and understands their despair of never having enough water.

He defeated Rameshwar Dudi of the Congress by 55,836 votes. Actor Vinod Khanna of the BJP won from Gurdaspur in northern Punjab state for the third time, defeating his Congress rival Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder by 20,000 votes. Other Bollywood winners included Jaya Prada and Raj Babbar in Uttar Pradesh. -dpa