Bengali Film Stars in Politics: Who Is With the BJP, TMC and Left (2026)
A sourced guide to which Bengali film people hold seats or have campaigned for the BJP and TMC, who is reported to have changed sides after May 2026, and why we list no one as Left.
Follow for the next update
Never miss a Bengali release. We ping you for new films, big scores and the Friday digest. One tap to stop.
Films in this article
This list uses only public roles (elected seats, candidacies, party posts) and what published reports say. Anyone not listed has no sourced public role that we found. Positions change quickly; this reflects reports available on 20 October 2026.
BJP
- Papiya Adhikari, actor, BJP MLA from Tollygunge since 4 May 2026.
- Rudranil Ghosh, actor, BJP candidate from Shibpur in 2026 and described as a BJP MLA in later reports.
- Roopa Ganguly and Hiran Chatterjee, actors described by journalist Bhaswati Ghosh as “actor-cum-BJP leaders” who were called by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari to discuss Tollywood’s working culture (ThePrint).
- Samik Bhattacharya is the BJP’s state president; singer Iman Chakraborty called him her “forever fan” in a Facebook post reported by IndiaBlooms.
TMC (including reported rebels)
- Dev (Ghatal MP), Saayoni Ghosh (Jadavpur MP), June Malia (Medinipur MP) and Rachana Banerjee (Hooghly MP) were named in June 2026 reports among TMC MPs said to have joined a rebel group; Dev has denied leaving (see our explainer).
- Raj Chakraborty, director and former TMC MLA, lost Barrackpore by 15,822 votes and announced on X that he is quitting politics.
- Soham Chakraborty, actor, was a TMC candidate from Karimpur in 2026.
- Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan were TMC MPs who moved from cinema into politics; Mimi quit as MP in 2024 saying politics was not her “cup of tea”.
- Kanchan Mullick was described as an active TMC campaigner.
- Parambrata Chattopadhyay, actor and director, campaigned for TMC candidate Ujjal Biswas.
Left
We could not find a published report in 2026 naming a Bengali film actor or director as a CPI(M) or Left candidate or office holder, so we list no one here rather than guess. In 2021 a “No Vote to BJP” campaign included Riddhi Sen, Anirban Bhattacharya, Anupam Roy and Parambrata Chattopadhyay, but that was an anti-BJP appeal, not a party membership (ThePrint). If you have a sourced public role to add, write to us.
Who changed sides?
Several commentaries said celebrities seen with Mamata Banerjee congratulated the BJP after the result. Named in reports: Kaushik Ganguly and Indradeep Dasgupta met BJP MLA Rudranil Ghosh within days. Whether any of this is “switching sides” is the commentators’ opinion, not a party membership.
Questions people ask
Which Tollywood actors are BJP MLAs?
Papiya Adhikari (Tollygunge) and Rudranil Ghosh are described as BJP legislators in the reports above.
Which Tollywood actors are TMC MPs?
Dev, Saayoni Ghosh, June Malia and Rachana Banerjee, with the rebel caveat described above.
