BJP's Arun Govil was up against Samajwadi Party's Sunita Verma from Meerut Lok Sabha seat
BJP's Arun Govil -- Lord Ram of the hugely popular television serial "Ramayan" -- on Tuesday won the Meerut Lok Sabha seat in his poll debut, the Election Commission data showed.
Mr Govil, who was trailing earlier in the day against Samajwadi Party candidate Sunita Verma, won by more than 10,000 votes.
While the actor-turned-politician received 5,46,469 votes, Ms Verma has received 5,35,884 votes.
Mr Govil, who made his electoral debut and lives in Mumbai, was criticised for being an outsider. He, however, had admitted that he does not have a very strong understanding of local issues, but promised to move to Meerut and speak to people to understand their problems after he is elected.
On the other hand, Ms Verma is the former Mayor of Meerut, and her husband Yogesh Verma, a former MLA of the Samajwadi Party, is also a well-known face in the constituency. She was earlier with the Bahujan Samaj Party.
In Meerut, the BJP, which had won 62 of Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in the 2019 general elections, has been on a winning streak since 2009 and has won a total of six times.
Meerut, which went to polls in the second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, saw a 58.70 per cent polling, according to the Election Commission.