KHARGONE (MADHYA PRADESH): Movie actor Johnny Karan, who appeared in more than 20 films including "Ghajini", "Hera Pheri" and "Tees Maar Khan" and who is contesting the Lok Sabha election as an Independent candidate from Khargone parliamentary constituency, is campaigning on a bicycle.
Moreover, he has only Rs 1,000 in his bank account as per his affidavit submitted with the nomination papers.
Karan was born and brought up in Madhya Pradesh and belongs to the Bheel tribe. Though he works in Mumbai but he has a dream to change the situation in the tribal areas in the state. He wants to establish a Gujarat and Bhojpur-like film industry in these tribal areas.
A B.Com degree holder, Karan is facing a severe financial crunch. "I have only Rs 1,000 in my bank account. Contesting an election is quite expensive these days therefore I am taking help from my friends and using a bicycle for campaigning," he said.
Revealing the reason behind contesting the election, he said: "Development of tribal areas is my prime agenda. Industrialists are acquiring their lands that is slowly destroying their culture and rituals. If I win then I will raise the issues of this section vociferously in Parliament."
Khargone is a reserved seat and the main contest here is between Bharatiya Janata Party's Gajendra Singh Patel and Congress's Govind Mujalda. The constituency will go to the polls on May 19.