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Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Meet Shyam Rangeela, the comedian contesting against PM Modi in Varanasi
Shyam Rangeela, 29, shot to fame for the first time in 2017 when his mimicry act of Prime Minister Modi became widely popular on social media. Since then, Rangeela has been making videos mimicking the PM from his speeches and interviews.
Comedian Shyam Rangeela, known for his videos of mimicking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has said he will contest the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 against the Prime Minister from the Varanasi seat.
The Varanasi parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh will vote in the seventh polling phase of Lok Sabha election 2024 on June 1. The results will be declared on June 4.
Rangeela announced his candidature from Varanasi for the Lok Sabha 2024 on social media on Wednesday, May 1.
Modi, who won this seat twice in 2014 and 2019, is expected to file his nomination from Varanasi on May 13.
Who is Shyam Rangeela?
Born and brought up in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh, Rangeela studied animation. Rangeela is known for his mimicry skills, especially of political figures. He was seen as a comedian in ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’ on TV.
Twenty-nine-year-old Rangeela shot to fame for the first time in 2017 when his mimicry act of PM Modi became widely popular on social media. Since then, Rangeela has been making videos mimicking the PM's speeches and interviews.
Apart from Modi, Rangeela has also made mimicry videos of other political figures such as Rahul Gandhi. For quite sometime now, Rangeela has been critical of PM Modi and his policies, as evident by his videos. In fact, the video announcing his candidacy, had some portions where Rangeela is heard mimicking PM Modi's voice.
Once a Modi 'Bhakt'
In his election announcement video on May 1, Rangeela cited the BJP’s unopposed victory in the Surat constituency and the controversy in the Chandigarh mayoral polls.
“I feel like it shouldn’t be that there is no other candidate to vote for. Even if one person wants to vote against a candidate, he or she has that right. Someone’s name should be on the EVM,” he said in his video posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Rangeela first forayed into politics when he joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2002. However, later, he decided to work independently, saying that “he is his own master.”
In one of the interviews, Rangeela had recounted his journey from being a supporter of PM Modi to a disillusioned critic, citing restrictions imposed on his comedic work as a turning point.
“I was a bhakt (fan) even till 2016-17, but then restrictions were imposed on me,” he said in an interview with The Indian Express.
Other candidates
With Modi in the fray, the contest for the Varanasi seat becomes symbolic. The Congress has fielded its Uttar Pradesh unit chief, Ajay Rai, from Varanasi. Rai finished third in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, had finished second from the Varanasi seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Among other candidates, transgender Mahamandaleshwar Hemangi Sakhi is also a candidate in the high-profile seat in Uttar Pradesh.
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Business NewsPoliticsNewsLok Sabha Elections 2024: Meet Shyam Rangeela, the comedian contesting against PM Modi in Varanasi
First Published:2 May 2024, 10:36 AM IST
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