'Spain Waale' Barb, 'Brahmin Devta' Plea In BJP Corporator vs Ravi Kishan Over Gorakhpur Waterlogging

BJP's Gorakhpur MP Ravi Kishan tried a mix of calm and taunting as he sought to pacify a corporator from his party who called him and complained rather curtly about waterlogging after heavy rain in the city.

"Arey Brahmin devta, Brahmin devta, suniye...", 'Listen to me, dear Brahmin god', Ravi Kishan said, using a caste-coded honorific for Vishwajit Tripathi, who snapped back, "It's not about my being Brahmin! Where are you when the city is drowning?"

Politician and actor Kishan then needled him by asking if he had joined the Opposition, the Samajwadi Party, and got another clapback from Tripathi over speakerphone: "What do you mean by that? Have you joined the BSP, then? Tell me!"

The exchange, in a mix of Hindi and Bhojpuri, has since gone viral as Tripathi also posted multiple videos on his Facebook page.

In one of the videos, Kishan told Tripathi he was watching the situation and was at the Nauka Vihar government resort. Tripathi landed at the place, but then showed Kishan not taking his calls.

In the caption for that Reel, Tripathi took a swipe at Kishan's repeated past assertions that "Gorakhpur is like Spain". "The MP from Spain called me here. I am here within five minutes, but now he's gone missing," he wrote.

Tripathi complained about the waterlogging in various areas and alleged that floodwater regulators at Tarkulahi and near Palm Paradise were not functioning properly. He sought Kishan's intervention with the officials concerned and asked him, "Are you saying you just learnt of this situation?"

To this, Kishan said he was already monitoring the situation.

He later said, as per a news report by PTI, the rainfall was unprecedented for Gorakhpur. The MP said the priority during the crisis was to address people's grievances and restore normalcy, adding that such situations "should not be politicised".

BJP's regional general secretary Satendra Sinha said any disciplinary action in the matter would be decided by the party's committee. In his personal view, however, he said the issue should have been raised on the party forum rather than on social media.

Sinha described the heavy rainfall as a natural calamity and said BJP workers and government agencies had worked through the night to deal with the situation.

The controversy also drew a reaction from the Samajwadi Party. Its district president Brijesh Gautam said the party's doors were open to people dissatisfied with BJP policies and seeking to oppose the ruling party.

Referring to Tripathi, Gautam said he had earlier been elected on a Samajwadi Party ticket before joining the BJP.

Gorakhpur is the home turf of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.