In a surprise move, the BJP Monday announced Bhojpuri film star Ravi Kishan as its Lok Sabha candidate from Gorakhpur, the bastion of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, instead of the widely-speculated candidature of sitting MP Praveen Nishad who recently joined the party.

Nishad has been fielded from Sant Kabir Nagar, with the BJP dropping sitting MP Sharad Tripathi who had created a political storm by beating a local BJP MLA with shoes.