Actor Pankaj Tripathi, who was appointed as the National Icon of the Election Commission of India has voluntarily stepped down from his post.Sharing the information on their official X handle, ECI has expressed gratitude for the actors impactful contribution in the voter awareness campaigns. The tweet reads, “Acknowledging his role as a political leader in an upcoming film, actor @PankajTripathi has voluntarily stepped down as #ECI National Icon as per terms of MoU. #ECI expresses gratitude for his impactful contribution to voter awareness & #SVEEP since Oct 2022”Acknowledging his role as a political leader in an upcoming film, actor @PankajTripathi has voluntarily stepped down as #ECI National Icon as per terms of MoU.#ECI expresses gratitude for his impactful contribution to voter awareness & #SVEEP since Oct 2022 pic.twitter.com/83Ols8B9TY— Spokesperson ECI (@SpokespersonECI) January 11, 2024Actor was roped in as National Icon in October 2022.Pankaj Tripathi, who was a member of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) during his collage days had not interest in politics then, while promoting his upcoming film Main Atal hoon, he recently expressed his interest in politics. The actor will be playing the role of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the biopic.In an interview with ANI, Tripathi spoke about his interest in becoming a politician in his home state, stating, Everyone is a politician in Bihar.The actor said, I never thought about entering politics at that time. There was a thought that I might proceed in this line but then there was an arrest and the cops beat me up so I left that thought there and then. At the same time, I became inclined towards plays and dramas and after watching those, I got more attracted towards theatre.The film Main Atal Hoon is directed by Ravi Jadhav and will be released on January 19.
