The Great Khali, whose real name is Dalip Singh Rana, is a wrestler associated with the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in the United States.
BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Jadavpur, Anupam Hazra accompanied by WWE wrestler the Great Khali, during an election campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, in Kolkata, on April 26, 2019. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS)
The Trinamool Congress has written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) protesting against wrestler The Great Khali campaigning for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Anupam Hazra in Jadavpur citing his citizenship status.
The Great Khali, whose real name is Dalip Singh Rana, is a wrestler associated with the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in the United States.
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In its complaint, the TMC said that Khali is a US citizen.
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“He (Khali) holds US citizenship. Therefore, a foreigner shouldn’t be allowed to influence the minds of Indian electors,” the TMC wrote to ECI.
Khali campaigned for Hazra on 26 April. He said that he is campaigning for Hazra because the two are friends.
Khali accompanied Hazra in a jeep from Ranikuthi to Alipore, where the BJP leader filed his nomination. The incumbent Bolpur MP had contested on a TMC ticket in 2014.
The BJP had previously complained to ECI on two occasions when TMC used Bangladeshi actors in poll campaigning.
In a letter to the Chief Election Officer (CEO) in West Bengal, the BJP alleged that a Bangladeshi national Noor Gaazi campaigned for TMC Sougata Roy in Dum Dum, one of the major areas in urban Kolkata. TMC leader Madan Mitra, too, was seen with the Bangladeshi national, the party alleged.
The BJP said that while Gaazi violated terms of visa, the incident also shows a “gross violation of the very basics of any democratic structure”.
The complaint against Ghazi came a few days after the BJP wrote to the ECI against Bangladeshi actor Ferdous Ahmed campaigning in Raiganj in north Bengal.
Following the complaint, the Union Home Ministry asked Ahmed to leave the country.
Read More: BJP complains to ECI over Bangladeshi national campaigning for TMC
In a statement the Home Ministry said that it received a report from the Bureau of Immigration regarding visa violations committed by Ferdous Ahmed following which it has cancelled his business visa and issued him a leave-India notice.
Ahmed was also blacklisted.
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