Comedian Shyam Rangeela on Wednesday announced that he will be contesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency in the Lok Sabha elections.
He made the announcement in a social media post.
In the 2:46 minute video, where he said he wished to speak his ‘Maan ki Baat’, the comedian said that it is India’s democracy which allows one to contest in the elections.
“I wish we contest this election to ensure that what we witnessed in Surat, Chandigarh and Indore should not be repeated in Varanasi. People must have an option to vote against a candidate, and they have the right to do so,” he said.
The 29-year-old comedian further appealed to the people to help him in all ways to contest the elections, as this was his first time.
The references were to the Congress candidate Akshay Kanti Bam from Indore Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, who withdrew his nomination and joined the BJP on Monday.
In the Surat constituency of Gujarat, the BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared winner unopposed after Congress’ Nilesh Kumbhani was disqualified by the polling officer and other candidates withdrew their nominations.
Meanwhile, 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 AAP voters. As the matter reached court, the Supreme Court set aside the results of the elections and declared the Opposition candidate as the winner.
Shyam Rangeela, whose real name is Shyam Sundar, shot to fame after he mimicked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’ show in 2017.
In 2022, he had joined the AAP in Rajasthan.