New Delhi:

Being sworn in as a Lok Sabha MP for the second time, BJP leader Ravi Kishan ended his oath by invoking a yogi, chanting a Hindu religious mantra and shouting a slogan praising the Bhojpuri language and the people who speak it.

After taking oath, the actor-politican said, “Baba Gorakhnath Maharaj ki jai, Har Har Mahadev” and was joined by other MPs in the House for the Mahadev chant. He then said “Jai Bhojpuri” and smiled before shaking hands with MP Faggan Singh Kulaste, who was presiding at the time, and walking off the podium. Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, Mr Kishan’s constituency, is known for the Gorakhnath Temple.

The BJP leader won from Gorakhpur for the second consecutive time but his margin was reduced to 1 lakh votes from 3 lakh in 2019. This was in line with the BJP’s poor performance in Uttar Pradesh, where its tally was reduced to 33 Lok Sabha seats from 62 in 2019. The results came as a shock to the BJP, which also became the second-largest party in the state in terms of Lok Sabha seats, behind the Samajwadi Party.

Before Mr Kishan’s swearing-in, AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi sparked controversy by expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine after taking oath as the Hyderabad MP for the fifth time. Members of the treasury benches objected to this and were assured by Radha Mohan Singh, who was chairing the proceedings at the time, that any statements beyond the formal oath would not be recorded.

Speaking to reporters later, Mr Owaisi said, “Other members are also saying different things. I said ‘Jai Bheem, Jai Meem, Jai Telangana, Jai Palestine’. How is it wrong? Tell me the provision of the  Constitution. You should also listen to what others said. I said what I had to. Read what Mahatma Gandhi had said about Palestine.”

Gorakhpur, UP:

Gorakhpur Lok Sabha candidate Ravi Kishan on Saturday arrived at a polling booth in Gorakhpur and queued up in the line to cast his vote, emphasising that politicians are “servants of the public, not VIPs”.

Kishan said that he was propagating the idea of PM Modi to end the VVIP culture in India.

“This is what our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taught us that we are servants of the public, we are not VIPs. As soon as PM Modi came, he ended the VIP culture in India by ending the concept of red beacons. When your head is so grounded, then you should remain a common man too. I hold no position above others now and prefer to stay humble. PM Modi has vanished the VIP culture in India and changed the politics of the nation. This is our culture and we should follow it,” Ravi Kishan told ANI.

#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: BJP candidate from Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan arrives at a polling booth in Gorakhpur to cast this vote for the seventh phase of #LokSabhaElections2024

The Gorakhpur seat sees a contest amid BJP’s Ravi Kishan, SP’s Kajal Nishad and BSP’s Javed Ashraf. pic.twitter.com/Tz54ZwpdBB

— ANI (@ANI) June 1, 2024

“I have cast my vote for Viksit Bharat, Ram Rajya and to make India a “Vishwa guru”, Kishan said after casting his vote.

Earlier, in a video message on X, Kishan urged the voters to cast their vote in the “festival of democracy”.

“Friends, you all will be aware that today voting is being held in Gorakhpur under the seventh phase of Lok Sabha general elections. On this occasion, I humbly request all of you, the God-like voters who are the destiny makers of Gorakhpur, to exercise your right to vote in this great festival of democracy by discharging your duty as an aware voter,” Kishan wrote in a post on X.

“Every vote of yours is important and it will decide the future of your Lok Sabha and the country, therefore I once again appeal to all of you to participate enthusiastically in this festival of democracy,” he added.

BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Gorakpur Ravi Kishan is pitted against SP’s Kajal Nishad and BSP’s Javed Ashraf. Ravi Kishan is banking on the support of CM Yogi, who served five terms as MP from the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency.

Earlier, UP CM Yogi Adityanath held a roadshow in Gorakhpur in support of BJP candidate Ravi Kishan.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Kishan emerged victorious against Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Rambhual Nishad with a margin of 3,01,664 votes.

The seventh phase marks a grand finish to the world’s largest polling marathon that began on the 19th of last month and has already covered six phases and 486 Lok Sabha seats.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

A civil court in Mumbai on Friday rejected the interim plea of a 25-year-old woman seeking a DNA test on BJP’s Gorakhpur MP Ravi Kishan to prove her claim that the actor-politician is her biological father.

Shinova had filed a suit before a civil court here urging it to declare that she is the biological daughter of Kishan born out of his relationship with Aparna Soni.

The suit, filed through advocate Ashok Sarogi and Jay Yadav, as an interim measure had also sought DNA test to prove the woman’s claim that Kishan is her father.

However, the court on Friday refused to grant any interim relief. It then issued summons to the respondents, seeking their response on the main suit of the woman.

The matter will be next heard on July 23.

The woman, in her suit, said Soni came across various people belonging to the film fraternity, including Ravi Kishan, in her capacity as a journalist.

As per the plea, Soni and Kishan entered into a relationship and got married in 1991, though they could not reside together for long due to some personal problems.

Shinova, in the plea, said she was born on October 19, 1998, by which time it had come to light that Kishan was already married.

Considering these facts, it seems Kishan and Soni decided among themselves that their child would call the actor ‘uncle’, the plea said, adding that the duo took necessary care of her.

However, recently when Shinova and Soni visited the BJP leader to offer best wishes for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, he misbehaved and refused to meet them, the plea alleged.

Following this, they held a press conference to tell the public about the rights of Shinova in her capacity as the biological daughter of Kishan, the plea said.

Nothing incriminating was mentioned in the press conference, despite which Kishan’s wife Shukla filed an FIR against them, Shinova said in the plea.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

In a calculated manoeuvre to secure an early advantage in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and surpass the significant threshold of 400 seats through its alliance with the other parties of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has unveiled a list of 195 candidates even before the official announcement of poll dates. The list comprises established political figures and four Bhojpuri film superstars entering the electoral arena.

The four Bhojpuri film actors are Ravi Kishan, Manoj Tiwari, Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirhua’, and Pawan Singh.

Ravi Kishan, who emerged victorious in the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, has been nominated once more by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Transitioning from an actor to a politician, Ravi Kishan is now recognized as the Amitabh Bachchan of Bhojpuri cinema.

Manoj Tiwari, who secured victories in the North-East Delhi Lok Sabha seat in both the 2014 and 2019 elections, was the subject of speculation regarding a potential shift to contest from a seat in Bihar. However, it has been confirmed that he will, for the third consecutive time, vie for the Lok Sabha seat in North-East Delhi.

Dinesh Lal Yadav, popularly known as ‘Nirahua,’ contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Azamgarh constituency in 2019, where he faced a defeat against the Samajwadi Party’s national president, Akhilesh Yadav. However, in the 2022 elections, Akhilesh Yadav decided to contest the assembly elections, leading to his resignation from the Lok Sabha seat. Subsequently, a by-election was conducted to fill the vacant position, and Nirahua emerged victorious by defeating Akhilesh’s brother and Samajwadi Party candidate, Dharmendra Yadav.

Pawan Singh, renowned as a Bhojpuri singer, actor, music composer, and stage performer, has made a significant move into the political arena. Recognized for his contributions to the Bhojpuri film industry, Singh has now been named as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the Asansol Lok Sabha seat in Bengal. This marks a notable transition in his career as he ventures into the realm of politics.

Simultaneously, several prominent figures from the film industry have been announced as candidates for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Notable names include Hema Malini, set to contest from the Mathura Lok Sabha seat, Locket Chatterjee, who will vie for the Hooghly seat in West Bengal, and singer-actor Suresh Gopi, who is slated to contest from the Thrissur seat in Kerala.