By PTI
LUCKNOW: They might be strong competitors in the Bhojpuri film industry, vying for top honours as singer-hero, but the trio of Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan and Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ will now be seen sharing the treasury benches in the Lok Sabha as members of the same political party BJP.
Though Tiwari who represents North-East Delhi, and Gorakhpur MP Kishan are already popular faces in the corridors of power, Nirahua is the latest to make his entry by winning Azamgarh Lok Sabha bypoll, the results of which were announced on Sunday.
The three stars of the Bhojpuri film industry had worked together in the movie “Ganga Jamuna Saraswati” released in 2013.
Though there might be other factors also for Nirahua winning the Azamgarh seat, his direct attack in his now popular style among the masses because of his several outings in the Bhojpuri cinema with ”Akhilesh hue farar ,Nirahua datal rahe” (Akhilesh is absconding, Nirahua is digging his heels in) helped him get prompt reaction during his campaign trail.
Nirahua, who got a pan-India identity thanks to his stint in the reality show ‘Bigg Boss 6′, helped the ruling BJP not only in winning popular support but also cut into the base of the Samajwadi Party’s core Yadav vote bank.
Knowing well the support because of his background that he got, Nirahua took to Twitter to thank his two colleagues Kishan and Tiwari, terming both as “bade bhaiya’ (big brother).
“Honorable MP Gorakhpur and Bhojpuri cinema’s superstar bade bhaiya @ravikishannji, I express my heartfelt gratitude to your trust and blessings. I promise you that I will live up to the expectations of the respected people of Azamgarh,” he said through his official ‘Nirahua Hindustani’ account.
He also made a similar tweet thanking Tiwari for his blessings.
From the same seat, Nirahua had lost to SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
After winning by over 8,000 votes, the actor-singer tweeted, “People’s victory! You have done wonders to the people of Azamgarh. This is your victory. From the day of the announcement of the bypoll dates, the way you all have showered love, support and blessings to the BJP this is its victory.”
“This victory is dedicated to your trust and the hard work of Godlike workers,” Nirahua said.
“Nirahua Hindustani” is also a popular Bhojpuri film franchise with three sequels so far.
He is among the most successful Bhojpuri actors, with successive five box office hits released in 2015.
He also owns the production house Nirahua Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
Speaking on the success of Bhojpuri actors in the electoral arena, Ravi Kishan said, “Bhojpuri samaj consists of some 25 crore people and also contributes to electing PM of the country.”
On the recent back-to-back success of stars like him, Kishan said that all like him are connected with the masses and come from humble backgrounds and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recognising them.
“Other parties have, however, not paid heed to the Bhojpuri actors,” Kishan lamented.
Kishan also recalled how the three had shared the screen in the movie “Ganga Jamuna Saraswati”.
Political analyst Pervez Ahmed said that the reason behind BJP reposing faith in Bhojpuri stars in recent times is primarily the sizeable population of Bhojpuri-speaking people who are seeing those conversing in their own language also as their representatives.
“Nirahua also got the backing of the Bhojpuri speaking people and BJP’s experiment has proved to be successful yet again,” he added.
Nirahua, who belongs to a famous Biraha family of Ghazipur, started his career as a Birha singer.
He made his film debut in the Bhojpuri drama “Humka Aisa Waisa Na Samjha” (2006), and gained popularity with his roles in “Chalat Musafir Moh Liyo Re” (2006), “Nirahua Rikshawala” (2008) and “Pratigya” (2008).
His other works during this period include “Parivaar” (2008), “Rangeela Babu” (2009), “Nirahua No.1” (2009), and “Saat Saheliyan” (2010).
“Nirahua Hindustani” (2014), his 50th film, was a big hit. He also has some patriotic films to his credit, such as “Patna Se Pakistan” (2015) and “Border” (2018), which are one of the highest-grossing Bhojpuri movies of all time.
His famous film “Nirahua Chalal London” (2019) is the first Bhojpuri movie shot in London and outside the Indian subcontinent.
In 2019, He also made his debut on OTT platforms, by playing the role of a police officer in the web series “Hero Vardiwala”, which was also the first-ever web series made in the Bhojpuri language.