Gorakhpur: Ravi Kishan, who is the BJP's candidate from Gorakhpur, hit out Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, calling him an "angrez aadmi" after the latter predicted that it would be difficult for the BJP to even cross 300 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
Hitting back at Tharoor, the BJP MP from Gorakhpur said, "Shashi Tharoor is 'angrez aadmi'. We go to Manali and Shimla on vacations; they come to India during elections. They neither know the country nor its villages. They don't know this sweat..."
He also underlined the importance of the Bhojpuri language, which made him, as per him, a "superstar."
"I have always spoken Bhojpuri...My speeches have been in Bhojpuri. This is our mother tongue, our identity. Bhojpuri made me a superstar. We fought for Bhojpuri, and a bill was brought in for the inclusion of the language in the 8th schedule (of the Constitution)...The youth will not leave their identity," the BJP MP added.
Ravi Kishan is seeking second term from Gorakhpur. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Kishan emerged victorious against Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Rambhual Nishad with a margin of 3,01,664 votes.
Uttar Pradesh is voting in all seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls, the last phase of which is scheduled for June 1. The Congress is fighting the polls in partnership with the Samajwadi Party in the state and has a seat-sharing agreement with each other.
As per the seat agreement, Congress is contesting 17 seats, and the Samajwadi Party has the remaining 63 seats in the electorally crucial state.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP emerged triumphant, securing 62 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, supplemented by two seats clinched by its ally Apna Dal (S). Mayawati's BSP managed to secure 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP garnered five. Conversely, the Congress party secured only one seat.
The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of the votes will be held on June 4.
—ANI