Assam election will be a star-studded battle

The Assam Assembly election will be a star-studded battle with all major political parties bringing in film stars, including Bollywood heartthrob Aishwarya Rai, dream girl Hema Malini, Vinod Khanna and Govinda, in a bid to woo the state's 1.74 crore voters.

Besides film stars, political bigwigs will also tour the state to boost their respective parties' campaigns.

If main opposition Asom Gana Parishad is trying to rope in Aishwarya, Samajwadi Party member Jaya Prada and Jaya Bachchan along with Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandra Babu Naidu and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, the Bharatiya Janata Party will bring in Hema Malini, Smriti Irani and Vinod Khanna, apart from former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former party chief L K Advani and "Hindutva icon" Narendra Modi.

The Congress is likely to field Govinda, Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Priya Dutt and top leaders like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi and others.

"We are trying to bring in Aishwarya, Jaya Prada, Jaya Bachchan and if his health permits - Amitabh Bachchan - for our campaign," AGP general secretary Dilip Kumar Saikia told PTI.

"Naidu and Farooq Abdullah have confirmed their participation in campaigining," he said over phone from Guwahati.