Meet Bhojpuri stars fielded by BJP in Lok Sabha polls; Ravi Kishan reacts, ‘hottest seat after Kashi’

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday unveiled its highly anticipated first list of 195 candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Among the notable names are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will contest from Varanasi, and Amit Shah, set to run from Gujarat's Gandhinagar constituency. Additionally, the BJP has chosen four Bhojpuri film stars as candidates, with Pawan Singh being fielded from Asansol in West Bengal.

Popular Bhojpuri star Ravindra Shyamnarayan Shukla, also known as Ravi Kishan, will be contesting from Gorakhpur, the bastion of Yogi Adityanath, for the second time.

“I want to thank the top leadership wholeheartedly... The organization gave me a second chance from the hottest seat after Kashi. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the entire organization and Prime Minister Modi. I will maintain this trust...BJP will win 400 seats and Gorakhpur seat will create history," BJP MP Ravi Kishan said.

Ravi Kishan emerged victorious in the 2019 election, defeating SP candidate Rambhual Nishad with a substantial lead of over 3 lakh votes.

Manoj Tiwari, a renowned Bhojpuri singer-actor and two-time sitting MP from North East Delhi, will be contesting from the same seat for the third consecutive time on a BJP ticket.

At 53, Tiwari, a former president of Delhi BJP, secured victory in the North East Delhi constituency in 2019, defeating former Delhi chief minister and Congress candidate Sheila Dikshit by a significant margin.

With three daughters, Tiwari holds a Master's degree in physical education from Banaras Hindu University. He is widely recognized as a prominent Purvanchali face of the BJP in Delhi, having been born and raised in Bihar.

Tiwari made his debut in electoral politics as a