Mumbai/Meerut (Uttar Pradesh): Ramayan actor and BJP candidate from Meerut Lok Sabha constituency Arun Govil has clarified why he left for Maharashtra's capital Mumbai a day after voting was held in Meerut. He stated that he is in Mumbai on the instructions of his party - the BJP - for election campaigning.
In an elaborate post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Govil stated, "My respected voters, sisters, brothers and workers of Meerut. On Holi, on 24 March, the Bharatiya Janata Party announced my name and on their instructions, I reached among you on 26 March."
"I stayed with you for one month and campaigned for the election with your support. The election was completed. I am very grateful to you for your love, support and respect. Now, on the instructions of the party, I am in Mumbai to fulfill my responsibilities here. The party is planning to send me to other areas for election campaigning," added the 66-year-old actor.
He maintained that he would start efforts to take Meerut to greater heights under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"As soon as this process is completed, I will be amongst you and along with the people of Meerut and the respected workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party, I will begin efforts to take Meerut to greater heights under the leadership of respected Shri Narendra Modi. I thank you once again from the bottom of my heart for supporting and encouraging me in this election. Many thanks to the media friends also for their cooperation," he added.
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai took a dig at Govil, who rose to fame after playing the role of Lord Ram in well-known television serial Ramayan, and the BJP.
Rai took to X and posted, "It is learnt that Arun Govil, who was the BJP candidate from Meerut, left for Mumbai the very next day after the elections were over. Perhaps he had difficulty staying among the public. This person was getting videography done inside the polling booth yesterday."
"During his election campaign, Rs 36,000 were stolen from a businessman's pocket. Not only this, during the election campaign, when a journalist asked him about the issues of Meerut, he did not know anything. In reply, he could only say that first let the elections be over and then we will look into the issues! Now tell me! What can the public expect from such a leader? Only God can save us from such a leader cum actor! By the way, this is the policy of most of the BJP leaders. They have no concern for the people and the ground. They only believe in parachute politics," alleged Rai.
Polling took place in Meerut in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Friday, April 26. Meerut recorded a voter turnout of 58.94 per cent.
