Kishan is not the only Bhojpuri actor roped in by the BJP for contesting the general elections.
( Photo: Twitter/@ravikishann)
The BJP on Monday announced that actor-politician Ravi Kishan would be contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Gorakhpur.
Gorakhpur is a crucial party stronghold considering the fact that UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had been contesting from the constituency since 1998. He vacated the seat after becoming the state’s CM in 2017.
Before him, his mentor and guru Mahant Avaidtyanath from the BJP was the elected MP from there.
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Ravi Kishan made his acting debut with Hindi cinema, and worked in Bhojpuri cinema simultaneously. The actor has a varied filmography, having worked with the likes of filmmakers like Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam and Anurag Kashyap, the actor has also starred in popular reality TV shows like Big Boss.
In the regional film Industry, the actor has an established position, also called the Bhojpuri Amitabh Bachchan.
The Bhojpuri superstar had earlier joined the Indian National Congress and contested the 2014 general elections from his hometown, Jaunpur constituency in UP. Despite having massive fan following in Jaunpur he lost the seat, when BJP swept the state with massive victory.
In 2017, he left the Congress party and joined the BJP.
Kishan is not the only Bhojpuri actor roped in by the BJP for contesting the general elections.
Earlier, the party had announced the nomination of superstar Dinesh Lal Yadav, popular as Nirahua, from Azamgarh, a Samajwadi Party bastion, against party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Following the BSP-SP alliance in the state, BJP is leaving no stone unturned to replay its 2014 elections performance when it almost swept the state.
Counting on the actors’ popularity is a move to recover the party’s lost territory. Earlier, Praveen Nishad, SP and Nishad party joint candidate, had won from Gorakhpur in the state polls before switching over to the BJP. He has been fielded from neighbouring Sant Kabir Nagar.
Ravi Kishan was last seen in Anurag Kashyap’s Mukkabaaz (2018).
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