Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan, fighting for the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat, on Thursday began his campaign by claiming that he will win the poll with Baba Gorakhnath’s blessings.
Mr. Kishan launched his campaign with a roadshow which he started from Gorakhnath Temple after paying his obeisance there with a huge crowd cheering him.
“Ee Modi ji ke tsunami ba” (It’s a Modi wave). We will win more than 73 seats. With the blessings of Baba Gorakhnath, I will win from Gorakhpur with a record margin,” he told reporters on the sidelines of his roadshow.
Jibe at Opposition
The actor also made a jibe at Opposition parties with his trademark Bhojpuri dialogue.
“Virodhiyan ke jindagi jhand ba, phir bhi ghamand ba (the life of Opposition is at peril, still they have ego),” he said.
In the middle of his roadshow, a seer climbed atop his car, flashing Lord Shiva’s trishool (trident) with a live snake curled around it and beating a ‘damroo’ as the actor kept waving at the crowd.
He asked the crowd to vote for him, saying U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself gave his blessings to him to contest on his seat. Mr. Adityanath, who is also the ‘mahanth’ (chief priest) of the Gorakhnath Temple since 2014, was the MP from Gorakhpur till 2017.
The actor kept on taking brief halts to garlanded statues of Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel at Kali Mandir and Lal Bahadur Shastri at Shatsri Chowk along the way.
“Modiji’s policies for farmers, youths and women and his commitment to fight corruption and terrorism will ensure him a second term in the office,” Mr. Kishan told the crowd.
