Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan, fighting for the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat, Thursday began his campaign, claiming he will win the poll with Baba Gorakhnath's blessings.
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 Gorakshnath, I will win from Gorakhpur with a record margin," he told reporters on the sidelines of his roadshow.
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 and repeating his appeal to vote for himself.
He asked the crowd to vote for him, saying UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanth himself gave his blessings to him to contest on his seat.
Yoginath, who is also the 'mahanth' (chief priest) of the Gorakhnath Temple since 2014, was the MP from Gorakhpur till 2017 when he bacame the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Adityanath has represented Gorakhpur for five times since 1998.
Amid his roadshow, the actor kept on taking brief halts to garlanded statues of Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel at Kali Mandir, Lal Bahadur Shastri at Shatsri Chowk and Mahatma Gandhi at Town hall area, along the way.
"Modiji's policies for farmers, youths and women and his commitment to fight corruption and terrorism with the agenda of nationalism will ensure him a second term in the office," Ravi Kishan told the crowd.
Widely seen as an outsider despite being a native of Barhalganj Moonkhar village near Gorakhpur, the actor was accompanied by several BJP leaders.
Those present in his roadshow also included Upendra Dutt Shukla, who was the BJP candidate in the 2018 bypoll when the ruling party was defeated by the BSP-supported SP candidate Praveen Nishad with over 20,000 votes.
Despite the scorching heat, a huge crowd turned up during the actor's roadshow with many people taking selfies with him.
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