Lok Sabha Elections 2024: It’s the people who see me as Ram, says Arun Govil

The candidature of Arun Govil 72 who is contesting the Meerut Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket could be seen as an attempt to capitalise on the popularity of Ramayanmdashthe TV show that created an inextricable association between the veteran actor and Lord Ramamdashand the sentiment surrounding itWhile it is interesting to see how political parties leverage cultural and religious symbols for electoral gains the outcome of the Meerut contest could ultimately depend on various factors including the political landscape local issues and voter preferencesWhen midday met Govil on Tuesday he was campaigning at Rukanpur Morna Scores of residents showered flowers on his convoy amid cries of Jai Shri Ram He said ldquoEven if I was staying in Mumbai Meerut is my janmabhoomi birthplace and I am proud that I got a chance to fight the election to represent Meerut in ParliamentrdquoArun Govil second from left during a road show at Rukanpur MornaHe added ldquoI had never thought I would be contesting an election from Uttar Pradesh But I had my mind set on doing social work for the people Recently when I received a call from a senior leader informing me that I had to contest the election I was happy and excited about getting a chance to work for the people and that too from my birthplacerdquoGovil was nominated as the BJPrsquos candidate on March 25 2024 Since then he has started going on road shows and rallies in the constituency as well as meeting voters in its urban and rural partslsquoNo religious anglersquoGovil denied playing the religious card saying ldquoI am contesting as Arun Govil If people associate me with the character I played in Ramayan what can I do Meanwhile people are happy to see me as a candidate and I have seen them responding well to my campaign over the past few days Even if people have seen me on TV itrsquos my job now to reach out to themrdquoAsked what he would do for the people of Meerut should he emerge victorious Govil said ldquoAny work is done following the official procedure I will too follow the procedure and will try to do the best for the peoplerdquo The veteran actor appealed to citizens to come out and vote ldquoI am getting support from the people and the election results will prove thisrdquo he concludedConstituency factsThe Meerut Lok Sabha seat has 1216940 voters as per the 2019 data Since 2009 it has been represented by BJPrsquos Rajendra Agrawal In the 2019 poll Agrawal secured 586184 votes The runnerup was BSPrsquos Haji Yaqoob Qureshi The winning margin was 4729 votes A local BJP worker said ldquoThis time the candidates are Sunita Verma of the Samajwadi Party which is in alliance with the Congress while Devvrat Tyagi is contesting on a BSP ticket Seeing the two candidates it seems that the BJP has a good chance of winning as the votes will be split between the three alliesrdquoIn 2014 Agrawal secured 532981 votes while the runnerup Mohammad Shahid Akhlak of the BSP won 300655 Asked whether the sitting MP was unhappy with his party giving a ticket to Govil the worker said Agrawal had won thrice and had done good work ldquoHe is happy that Govil got the ticket and has been part of his campaign from day onerdquo he saidSonu Goswami a resident said ldquoGovilrsquos chances of victory are high As an actor he made Meerut famous across the world We want such leaders who are not chasing fame but working for the welfare of the people I hope he brings about a lot of change in Meerut in the coming yearsrdquo