On Arun ‘Ram’ Govil’s lips, ‘Ramji’, but also Modi and Yogi: ‘They must have a plan’

The BJP may be banking big on the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya under the Modi government for the coming Lok Sabha elections, raising it at poll meetings. But Arun Govil, the ‘Ram’ in the race, appears to believe that God alone won’t see him through in Meerut; he is also counting on Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath.

As Govil, who played Ram in the hit Ramayana TV series of the 1980s, travels through the constituency in an open vehicle, flanked by the actors who played Sita (Deepika Chikhalia) and Laxman (Sunil Lahiri), people line up to watch them and shower petals – the adulation reminiscent of what the three received 40 years ago.

Slogans of “Jo Ram ko laye hain, hum unko layenge (We will welcome those who have brought Ram)” and “Jai Shri Ram” fill the air. The vehicles in the cavalcade, including auto-rickshaws, carry posters saying “Iss par sawar, Modi ka Parivar (On this vehicle rides Modi’s family)”.

Clearly overwhelmed, Govil tellsThe Indian Express: “The Prime Minister and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister must have a strategy putting their faith in me for not only Meerut but also the major seats of west UP… That strategy is known only to Ramji or the two leaders. I am just working hard to make my janmabhoomi Meerut, my karmabhoomi.”

Both Modi and Adityanath have campaigned in Meerut, which votes on April 26. Modi, in fact, officially kicked off his poll campaign from Meerut on March 31, where he appealed to people to vote for Govil, apart from the NDA’s other candidates in west UP. Addressing a meeting in Meerut’s Kithaur town on April 18, Yogi said that when Govil played Ram, he could have already imagined that one day he would be seeking votes for himself the same year as the Ayodhya Ram Temple came up.

Ges