He looks like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dresses and speaks like him and begins his speech with ‘Mitron’, but their similarities end there — He is Abhinandan Pathak, a Congress campaigner in the Naxal-affected Bastar region of Chhattisgarh who says “achche din nahin ayenge”.

A new entrant to the grand old party, Pathak was with the BJP-led NDA constituent Republican Party of India (Athawale) as its state vice-president for Uttar Pradesh till he joined the Congress last month in the presence of actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar.

“Since I look like Modiji, people will always ask me where are the ‘acche din’ (good days), as promised by Modiji ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Hurt by seeing problems of the common man, I left the BJP’s ally to join Congress last month,” Pathak said.

Pathak, who has been campaigning for the Congress in various seats of the region, including Jagdalpur, Dantewada, Kondagaon and Bastar, is drawing attention in a big way from the locals who jostle to click selfies with him.

On his campaign trail, Pathak always targets the prime minister, while mimicking his style, over his promises of ‘good days’ and depositing Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts of every Indian after retrieving black money stashed abroad.

“Mitron (friends), I came here to tell you the truth that ‘achche din’ are not going to come. It was a false promise and please vote for the Congress which can ensure your development,” he said, while addressing a small gathering in a local market.

Pathak claims he is campaigning against the BJP and Modi for the first time since 2014 and till now he used to campaign only for the saffron party and its allies.(PTI)