Ravi Kishan wrestles back Gorakhpur for BJP, says "victory of truth"

Ravi Kishan wrestled Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat back into BJP's kitty on Thursday and termed his win as "the victory of truth".

The Bhojpuri film actor defeated Rambhual Nishad of Samajwadi Party by a margin of 3,01,664 votes.

Talking to ANI, the actor-turned-politician said, "This is a victory of truth, I thank people of Gorakhpur for the mandate."

"I also thank Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their belief in me," added Kishan.

He termed it a "huge victory reflective of the fact that from now onwards the caste-based politics is over".

"I would thank my wife also, as she had helped me a lot during the campaign. besides this I thank BJP workers for putting such hard work in tremendous heat," he said.

Kishan had contested and lost from Jaunpur Lok Sabha seat during 2014 general elections on a Congress ticket. The actor joined BJP two years ago.

The Gorakhpur seat was represented by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for five terms since 1998 until Praveen Kumar Nishad of Samajwadi Party won the seat in a by-poll last year.

The seat was vacated by Yogi when he became the chief minister of the state in 2017.

IN Uttar Pradesh, BJP has won 10 seats and is leading on 50, leaving the SP-BSP-RLS alliance far behind. The grand-old Congress has been decimated to a single seat in the state.