BJP MP Ravi Kishan's 'Spain' Taunt Rebounds as Gorakhpur Floods
Days after BJP MP and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan publicly compared his constituency Gorakhpur to Spain, heavy rains lashed the city on September 26-27, leaving streets, markets and residential areas — including the neighbourhood around the MP's own house — under water and triggering both public ridicule and an intraparty row that spread rapidly across social media.
🗳️ 'Welcome to Spain' — The Remark That Backfired
BJP MP and Bhojpuri film actor Ravi Kishan had attracted widespread notice when, at a public function, he declared: 'Gorakhpur looks like Spain to me… those who don't agree with me are blind.' The boast seemed confident at the time, but nature had other plans. When heavy rains hit the city in late September 2026 and flooded its lanes, streets and residential colonies, social media was flooded with videos and reels showing waterlogged neighbourhoods — many with sarcastic captions invoking Spain. Passersby near Kishan's house in the Ramgarh Taal Lake View area were filmed commenting 'Welcome to Spain' as they waded through the water. Instagram reels depicting the flooding spread rapidly, each one an implicit referendum on Kishan's earlier characterisation of the city's development. The Deccan Herald noted that the juxtaposition of his glowing endorsement and the visuals of knee-deep water proved highly damaging, and that the controversy highlighted the gap between political narrative and lived urban reality in one of Uttar Pradesh's major cities. [3]
🗳️ BJP Corporator vs Ravi Kishan: The Phone Call That Went Viral
The waterlogging crisis triggered an internal BJP dispute that quickly escaped party walls. Local BJP corporator Viswajeet Tripathi telephoned Ravi Kishan to report residents' woes — non-functioning water pumps, waterlogged streets and helpless citizens — and urged the MP to intervene with the authorities. Kishan's response, apparently bewildered by criticism from within his own party, was to question whether Tripathi had 'joined Samajwadi Party.' The corporator countered pointedly: 'Have you joined BSP?' The audio of the exchange circulated rapidly across social media platforms. NDTV reported that Kishan also invoked his personal standing, with the exchange touching on community and religious sensitivities in a city where caste politics run deep. The Hindustan Times described the moment as 'Brahman devta, Samajwadi Party join karliya?' — capturing the incredulous flavour of the confrontation. The episode exposed fault lines within the BJP's Gorakhpur unit at the worst possible moment, when the city's infrastructure was visibly under stress and the constituency's MP had committed himself publicly to a rosy assessment that events had contradicted. [1]
🗳️ MP Kishan Inspects Flooded Areas, Calls Rainfall Unprecedented
Faced with mounting criticism, Ravi Kishan moved to demonstrate hands-on engagement. He conducted inspections of waterlogged areas across Gorakhpur, offering reassurance that conditions were improving. 'The water is now receding. If rain stops for two or three hours, the accumulated water will certainly drain away,' he told reporters. He also attempted to contextualise the scale of the event: 'The intensity of this rainfall was unprecedented. No one had witnessed such heavy rain in the last 15-19 years. It was almost like a cloudburst.' The inspections gave the MP a platform to reframe himself as present and responsive rather than absent or dismissive. However, critics noted the implied tension in his statement: if the rainfall was genuinely unprecedented, the city's drainage infrastructure had still struggled to cope, raising questions about what investments had actually improved the city's resilience during his tenure as MP. Kishan was also reported to have said he was 'praying to Mahadev' for the rain to stop — a sentiment that resonated with Gorakhpur's deeply religious character but did little to address the structural questions his Spain comparison had raised. [6]
Four Deaths Reported as Heavy Rains Lash Gorakhpur District
Beyond the political controversy, the rains brought real tragedy. Asianet Newsable reported at least four deaths in Gorakhpur district as a consequence of the heavy downpour. Waterlogging was reported across wide areas of the city and surrounding regions, affecting daily life and commercial activity. The scale of the flooding placed both the civic administration and the state government under scrutiny, with questions raised about the functioning of drainage systems, the availability and operation of pumping stations, and the city's overall preparedness for intense seasonal rainfall. The human toll of the flooding — four lives lost — gave a sober dimension to a story that had begun as a political controversy over a provocative comparison. It underscored the real stakes of urban infrastructure policy and the consequences of inadequate investment in drainage and flood management in one of the state's most politically prominent cities. [5]
Sources: [3] Deccan Herald · [1] NDTV · [6] Inshorts · [5] Asianet Newsable