Why a political party does something is far from obvious to the common man. But in most cases, no matter how seemingly illogical or grandiose or inexplicable, it all boils down to more votes. The BJP’s savvy in this domain cannot be contested. Be it holograms or shape-shifting beards, social media pitches or (alleged) social media breaches, it does not just know its ropes, it invents them too. And that is why it is befuddling why this party should want to use Mithun Chakraborty to improve its prospects in a state where it was pummelled by the ruling Trinamul.

Hunter Gatherer

Is it possible that Mr Nadda is a Mrinal Sen acolyte, never got over Mrigaya and imagines Chakraborty, who played a hunter, can gallantly gather for the Bengal BJP its desired following? Or could it be that the botanist-turned-BJP-state-president Sukanta Majumdar is a disco dancer at heart and believes that at the sight of Pied Piper-da, voters will crawl out of the woodwork singing "Aa gaya aa gaya, halwawala aa gaya"? At the time of the 2019 general elections, Bengal had 20.1 lakh first-time voters, the highest in any state. Most of them would not have been born when Hrithik Roshan had the whole nation swaying to Kaho na pyar hai at the beginning of the millennium, but “experts” insist that in rural Bengal, the 72-year-old’s popularity continues unabated, safe in a time bubble. All Chakraborty has to do is say “Dance Bangla dance” in his raspy voice, and the party will take off.

Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy

True, the veteran actor comes with political baggage. There is his Naxal past, his close ties with the Left, with Jyoti Basu and Subhas Chakraborty. One generation will remember a star-studded Hope 86 at Salt Lake stadium, wherein he helped raise funds for a flood-ravaged Bengal. Then there was his association with Mamata Banerjee. But you could always argue that that’s true of every politician. Everyone has multiple political avatars and affiliations. Except that politicians can live down what actors seldom can. Ask Amitji. Beyond everything there are deliverables. Chakraborty himself says he is an entertainer first, an entertainer with a soul connect with Bengal. In the runaway hit song Tumpa Sona, there is a nod to Chakraborty's entertaining prowess. But when the man himself took the stage in 2021, mid-pandemic, to help BJP’s cause in the Assembly polls, he hissed instead of entertaining. The I-am-pure-cobra line got emblazoned in public memory for more than one reason. Cut to the present. The BJP reportedly thinks instead of organising a Puja in Calcutta, it is better to use an icon like Chakraborty. Perhaps they have taken a tad too literally the lyrics of Tumpa Sona. They go like this: “Shob swapno hobe shotti (shotyi)/Bolchhe Mithun Chakraborty/Ei Mithunda/Nachun na.”