As voting in the last and final phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections is scheduled to take place on 1st June, it will be covering 57 constituencies across 8 states and union territories. During the seventh phase voting will take place in Chandigarh, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, the 13 constituencies where voting is yet to take place include Mirzapur, Varanasi, and Gorakhpur among others.

The BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Gorakhpur is none other than the actor Ravindra Kishan Shukla, popularly known as Ravi Kishan, who was recently seen in the trending film “Laapata Ladies” directed by Kiran Rao. What makes this more interesting is the fact that the constituency from where the Bhojpuri star is contesting the election is the place from where the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has been a five time MP. 

In a recent interview with the Press Trust of India (PTI), the actor rebuked those calling him an outsider and said, “I have lived here for five years…….and am serving the people.” The actor won the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the constituency of Gorakhpur against the Samajwadi party candidate Rambhual Nishad. This time he is contesting against Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Kajal Nishad, who is also a Bhojpuri film actress, and is contesting as INDIA bloc’s joint candidate given the seat-sharing pact between the SP and the Congress.

While it would be interesting to see who wins the election from Gorakhpur between the public's negative reaction towards the actor, only supporting him because of their faith in the CM, and strong contenders from the opposition. Kishan played the role of a policeman in the famous film gathering praises on the internet. His character is that of a good policeman who saves a woman from being stuck in an abusive and forced marriage.