Aussie Liberals Boot Candidate From Ticket Over Sunny Leone

AUSTRALIA—Victoria's ruling Liberal Party succumbed to shame last week when it decided that one of its candidates would have to be removed from the ticket because of a business association with Sunny Leone. That's right, a business association with a former adult performer who, post porn, has built a thriving mainstream career as a Bollywood actress brought an Australian politician's career to a screaming halt. According to ABC News, "Nitin Gursahani was standing for the seat of Thomastown before it was revealed he was helping promote the Melbourne tour of Indian actress Sunny Leone... In a statement, the Liberal Party said Mr Gursahani failed to disclose his connection with the tour." The connection is hardly the stuff of scandal, however. According to The Age, "It was revealed on Saturday Mr Gursahani's family business, Kiren Australia, was involved in bringing Bollywood actress and adult film star Sunny Leone to Australia. The family business is co-hosting an event featuring Sunny Leone on the eve of the November 29 poll at a Toorak bar." Former candidate Gursahani "is the marketing manager of the company, which has business dealings in property, liquor and Bollywood events," added the paper. Unfortunately, The Age fails to mention that it has been several years since Leone performed in an adult film, and that in the interim years she has become an extremely popular star in India, quite a feat considering the traditionally conservative nature of Indian society. That achievement alone should have prevented the Liberal Party from heaping shame on either Gursahani and Leone, but such is the Party's myopia that instead it is patting itself on the back for its swift action. "The Liberal Party manages the selection of candidates, they manage the candidates, and if issues arise, we take immediate action and that's what we've done," said Premier Denis Napthine when asked on Sunday if he was embarrassed by the Leone affair. Of course, it could also be the case that the Liberal Party is in such chaos (reportedly heading to an ignominious defeat in the upcoming election) that it is reacting rashly to potentially problematic matters by simply excising the problems as quickly as possible. As a sign of its ongoing issues, it has replaced five candidates in the past year or so, dumping four of them, leading Labor Party spokesman Martin Pakula to note opprtunistically, "There is something very odd going on inside the Liberal Party, I think their campaign is in disarray."