Comedian Shyam Rangeela announced on Wednesday that he will contest the Lok Sabha elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi constituency.
Rangeela, who gained fame through his videos mimicking Modi, made the announcement in a social media post.
“India’s democracy allows anyone to contest elections,” Rangeela said in a video. “The reason behind my decision to fight elections is to ensure that what we saw in Surat, Chandigarh and Indore should not be repeated in Varanasi. People should have an option if they want to vote against a candidate. They have a right to do so.”
Congress’ candidate Akshay Kanti Bam from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore Lok Sabha constituency withdrew his nomination and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday.
In Gujrat’s Surat constituency, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared winner unopposed after the Congress’ Nilesh Kumbhani was disqualified by the polling officer and other candidates withdrew their nominations. The development came on April 22, two weeks before the seat was scheduled to head for voting.
On January 30, presiding officer Anil Masih of the Chandigarh mayoral election declared the BJP candidate victorious after defacing and invalidating eight ballot papers of Congress and Aam Aadmi Party voters.
On February 20, the Supreme Court set aside the result of the mayoral polls declared by Masih and named the Opposition candidate as the winner.
Rangeela, 29, on Wednesday appealed for support, including financial assistance, stating that this is his first election race. “I do not know how to file nomination papers or how to campaign on the ground,” he said.
The BJP announced on March 2 that the prime minister will contest the polls from the Varanasi seat, which he has represented since 2014.
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