Actor Ravi Kishan on Sunday joined the BJP at the residence of party national president Amit Shah, triggering speculations about its significance in the middle of the Uttar Pradesh elections.

There are many Bhojpuri-speaking people in eastern Uttar Pradesh, from where Kishan hails. Voting in the region is scheduled for the fourth phase on February 23 and Kishan has said he will campaign before that.

Manoj Tiwari, another Bhojpuri singer and actor, played a pivotal role in Kishan's switch. Kishan had contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 on a Congress ticket from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Asked about the reason behind his joining the BJP, Kishan told The Telegraph over phone from New Delhi : "I admire the thoughts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and feel that the future of this country is in his hands because he only thinks about the poor and the needy."

Accompanied by Manoj, Ravi had an hour-long closed door meeting with Shah. Stepping out of Shah's residence, Kishan told reporters that he had joined a party that thinks for the poor and focuses on development.

What made the occasion interesting was the role of Manoj, as he and Ravi are considered archrivals and have had public verbal duels on many occasions.

On his rivalry with Kishan, Manoj replied: "Ravi Kishan is like my elder brother and we never had bitter relations. It is the just people's assumption. In any industry, there is competition. Similarly, we used to compete with each other but in a healthy way."

Manoj, who is a BJP Lok Sabha member from the North East Delhi parliamentary constituency and also in-charge of the Delhi state unit, had openly expressed his anger at Kishan.

Kishan admitted to The Telegraph over the phone that Manoj had played a pivotal role in his joining the BJP.

In May 2008, Manoj and Kishan's rivalry burst out in public when the duo got into a verbal fight during the audio release of their film Ego Chumma De Da Rajajee, which had compelled their colleague Bhagyashree to comment that the two stars had fought like "they were married".

Allegations and counter-allegations flew thick and fast. Finally, the public relations officer of the film, Ranjan Sinha, had to stop the fight.

People in the Bhojpuri film industry believe that the ego clash between the duo had erupted ever since the Netherlands government had issued a postal stamp in the name of Manoj. It was for the first time that Holland had issued a postal stamp in the name of a foreigner.

After the 2008 episode, both stars avoided each other and vowed not to work together.

In 2005, both had signed a film, Pandit Ji Batai Na Biyah Kab Hoi, but Manoj quit the film midway. They were again cast together in the film Tu Hamaar Hau,released in 2007.

The last film they worked together was Ganga Jamuna Saraswati, released in 2014.