UP Assembly Election: PM Modi's doppelganger to contest from Sarojini Nagar in Lucknow

Lucknow, Fe 02: Abhinandan Pathak, who is better known as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's lookalike, will contest Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as an independent candidate from the Sarojini Nagar Assembly seat in Lucknow.

The 56-year-old Pathak, who sells cucumbers on trains for a living, is from Saharanpur and bears a striking resemblance to PM Modi.

PM Modi doppelganger claims he had sought a ticket from the BJP, but got no response."I wrote to BJP president J.P. Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for a ticket to contest from Lucknow but they paid no heed to my letters," he said.

"I am a 'Modi Bhakt'. The BJP can ignore me, but I will contest and win the election to help Yogi Adityanath become chief minister for the second term. Modi and Yogi are two faces of one coin. I admire their passion to work selflessly for the masses," he said.

Pathak came to the limelight with facial, dressing style, and speech similarity with Prime Minister Modi which has been used by political parties.

He had hogged the headlines when he first campaigned for Prime Minister Modi in Varanasi during 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

He is trying his luck since he contested the 1999 Lok Sabha Elections from Chaurasi, Saharanpur but lost. He also contested the 2012 Councillor Elections but eventually, lost again.

Pathak did campaign for the Congress party during assembly elections.

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Pathak contested against Prime Minister Modi as an independent candidate.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly election 2022 will be held from February 10 onwards in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

The last Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh (2017) were held in seven phases. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies had won 312 of the state's 403 Assembly constituencies.