YouTuber with 2.1 million followers gets 33 Votes
A huge online following does not always translate into votes, as self-styled astrologer and YouTuber Omprakash Bishnoi found out in the sarpanch election of Indon Ki Dhani-II gram panchayat, in Osian tehsil of Jodhpur district.
Bishnoi has about 2.1 million followers across social media, including roughly 1.4 million on Instagram, 2.32 lakh on Facebook and five lakh on YouTube. He campaigned heavily online, yet managed only 33 votes in a village with around 1,600 eligible voters. Another 10 voters chose NOTA.
Three candidates were in the race. A teacher came second with 527 votes, while the winner is a businessman who runs a car business.
The result stunned the villagers and his followers, and by his own account, Bishnoi himself. He said he entered the contest because people in the village urged him to, promising him a comfortable win. His agenda included schooling for every child, care for stray and abandoned animals, and making sure residents receive the benefits of government schemes.
Bishnoi also said he runs a cow shelter that houses about 1,500 cows, and that he has given around 30 bighas of his own land for it. Despite this, the ballot boxes told a very different story from the one he had expected.
The outcome has become a talking point about the gap between online popularity and real support on the ground, especially in local elections where voters tend to back candidates they know personally.
