mumbai abhijeet bichukale is feeling used moments ago he plucked off his mike from his tshirt and stormed out of a live panel show in chembur a friend who brought him to the show is now guiltily trying to calm him down with a hug things had begun well here if you discount the part when the anchor mispronounced bichukales surnameslashvillagename and he demanded an edit before someone reminded him that its a live stream what followed was a round of questions and song requests that have become almost rote for this 43yearold selfstyled politician from sataraturnedmarathi reality show contestantturnedentertaining independent candidate from worli constituency the mood shifted when a journalist asked him the sena has been in power in this city for long your fame here is sudden whats your game plan sudden asked the hennahaired bichukale reminding her that he had gone grey having contested and failed in every possible election from lok sabha polls to the presidential electionssince 2004 in satara before reality tv found him and that its his celebrityhood that has now lent glamour to the vidhan sabha polls in mumbai where he is up against yuva sena chief aaditya thackeraykavimanache nete bichukale may have the heart of a poet but his head belongs to an actor who wants to be taken seriously it prefers the company of those who respect his stature right now economics is weighing heavily on the head of this 43yearold independent candidate whose poll affidavit shows his declared income of the last five years as nilbichukale who had been recently arrested from the sets of a marathi reality show in a chequebouncing case in satara is asking friends over the phone for monetary help apart from his worlibased uncles goodwill and his own viral fame the candidatewho has never got more than 2000 votes in an election says he is banking on the principle of multilevel marketing for support tell your friends in worli bichukale requests a couple of fans in a cake shop in chembur after they take a selfie with him and gives them his phone number unsolicited tell your friends in worli abhijeet bichukale he repeats looking at the cake shop salesman who also takes a selfie with the man despite not quite knowing who he isfor worli constituency bichukalewho wears faux leather jackets and obsessively smooths his long hairis at worst a whatsapp meme and at best a colourful alternative for nota someone who is not only prone to bollywoodinspired flourishes like ek baar commitment kar di toh main apni kya khuda ki bhi nahi sunta but also someone who likes to call the ab form which contesting candidates are required to submit the abhijit bichukale form mumbai doesnt belong to anyoneexcept for my heroes gadge maharaj babasaheb ambedkar and tukaram says bichukale when asked about his decision to go up against aaditya as chhatrapati shivajis ideological heir bichukale secretly reveres his longtime rival in satara shivaji descendant udayanraje bhosale like an elder brother he