Bhojpuri superstar Ravi Kishan, the BJP’s contestant from Gorakhpur, is leading with a margin of 65,000 votes as of 10.45 am.
The actor is contesting against the the SP-BSP alliance candidate Ram Bhuwal Nishad, who belongs to the dominant fishermen caste ― around 3.5 lakh in Gorakhpur and who served as a Minister in Mayawati’s government.
In an interview with NDTV, the actor had said, “Since 2007, I have been campaigning for the BJP pan-India. Maybe because I am a boy from Jaunpur, a priest’s son, from a very, very ordinary family...My family is from Gorakhpur. The BJP must have known my hard work. I am very lucky. I’m speechless.”
The actor was fielded by the BJP for the Gorakhpur constituency, where UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was the MP for several years.