BJP fumes as Shah Rukh Khan lookalike campaigns for Congress in Maharashtra: ‘Imagine the lengths…’

The BJP was left fuming on Friday as videos of a Shah Rukh Khan-lookalike campaigning in Maharashtra went viral. Visuals shared online showed the doppelganger — tagged as Ibrahim Qadri by some reports — waving to people while perched atop a vehicle in Solapur. The truck was adorned with a banner featuring senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party candidate Praniti Shinde.

“Imagine the lengths to which the party can go to fool people so brazenly and openly. Peddling fake surveys, making up fake anti-India narratives, using AI generated Deep Fakes of celebrities and now this. Now you know why this party is already blaming EVMs,” fumed BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala.

He also shared some photos from the rally and tagged the Election Commission to underscore his point.

The Congress has fielded Praniti Shinde — the daughter of former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde and a current MLA — from the Solapur constituency. Her father had recently claimed that the tried to unsuccessfully make Praniti switch to the saffron party. Former Shiv Sena MLA from Solapur, Dilip Mane, had also made waves ahead of the Lok Sabha elections after choosing to joining the Congress at the end of March. 

Another setback for the BJP came in mid-April after Solapur district general secretary Dhairyasheel Mohite Patil quit the party before joining the Sharad Pawar-led faction of NCP. The Nationalist Congress Party (SP) has since opted to field him from the Madha constituency against sitting BJP MP Ranjit Naik-Nimbalkar. 

Lok Sabha elections began on Friday with 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories casting their ballots till 6 pm. Elections in Maharashtra will take place in five phases between April 19 to May 20. Raigad, Baramati, Osmanabad, Latur, Solapur, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, and Kolhapur will vote in the third phase to be held on May 7.

(With inputs from agencies)