For a "6 feet 1 inch Champion", meeting Sultan proved a tall order

Lucknow: Pranav Singh "Champion", an Uttarakhand rebel Congress MLA, was turned away when he sought to meet Salman Khan while the superstar was shooting in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar. Stung, the leader later described Salman as "just an actor". "I am 6 feet 1 inch tall. He is only 5 feet 4 inches," Pranav said. The 43-year-old, who sports the "Champion" suffix as a mark of his days as an arm-wrestler, told cops at a guesthouse he wanted to meet Salman who was shooting there for Sultan, in which the actor plays the eponymous wrestler. Salman Khan during the shooting of Sultan in Muzaffarnagar on Thursday. (PTI) According to an officer present at the spot, Pranav was told that Salman was too busy with the shooting to "divert his attention elsewhere". Some eyewitnesses saw Rakesh Kumar Jolly, Muzaffarnagar SP (rural) who was overseeing security at the location, asking the MLA to go away because the star was not willing to "spare even a second for him". Some saw in this episode shades of Fan, the Shah Rukh Khan flavour of the season about a star-struck youth's obsession with his idol and his backlash when the actor rejects his fervent requests to spare "five minutes" of his life for him.

A photo of MLA Pranav that he claims to have clicked with Salman earlier

The events in Muzaffarngar unfolded around the time Nainital High Court set aside President's rule in Uttarakhand and reinstated the Harish Rawat government that had been dismissed amid a crisis brought on by Pranav and eight other rebel Congress legislators. That order was stayed by the apex court on Friday. Pranav said he had gone to Muzaffarnagar to offer prayers at a famous Hanuman temple and thought he would meet Salman. "When I came to know Salman was shooting nearby, I thought I would meet him. My nine-year-old daughter was eager to see him too," said the MLA from Khanpur in Uttarakhand's Haridwar, around 80km from Muzaffarnagar. Pranav said he had met Salman earlier and thought it would not be difficult this time too, only to realise the tryst would be tougher than a bout with a rival. "I am an arm-wrestler and have won many Asian and national medals. I am a real-life hero," he told The Telegraph over phone. The flamboyant leader's other "heroics" include marshalling dancers to shake a leg with them and allegedly opening fire on villagers protesting illegal quarrying. He has denied the allegations and come out unscathed from such controversies to become a three-time MLA. Pranav recalled his earlier encounter with Salman but, perhaps smarting from the snub on Thursday, couldn't resist a swipe. "I will WhatsApp you a picture of Salman with me, taken in Jaipur in February 2009 when he was shooting for Veer. You can see how small he looks in front of me," said the descendant of the erstwhile Gujjar kings of Uttarakhand. Pranav sent the picture with a caption that read, "Real vs Reel Hero". The phone message had a smiley too, suggesting he was not too worried about the high court's observation yesterday that he and the other Congress dissidents deserved to be disqualified.