The Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency, going to the polls in the last phase on June 1, is a strong bastion of the BJP and the hometown of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan is seeking a second term on a BJP ticket, while Bhojpuri actress Kajal Nishad is running on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket. The atmosphere favours Yogi Adityanath, but the BJP is concerned about dissatisfaction within the strong Nishad community, from which the SP candidate hails. Locals acknowledge the BJP’s significant work in Gorakhpur, but caste politics remains a crucial factor.

Kajal Nishad, representing the INDIA bloc on an SP ticket, emphasised in her rally that BJP candidate Ravi Kishan is an outsider from Jaunpur, while she is a native of Gorakhpur. She claimed that the BJP would lose badly this time as she has support from all communities, including the Nishad community to which she belongs. Team mid-day met Nishad in Badhai village, 60 km from Gorakhpur city, where she was campaigning.