Harshad Chopda becomes first finalist on Lock Upp 2, Shivangi Joshi evicted; fans accuse him of ‘emotional blackmail’

While Harshad Chopda was the first to be confirmed as the finalist on Lock Upp 2, everyone was left in shock at the sudden elimination of Shivangi Joshi.

The season finale of Lock Upp 2 is just around the corner, but the show just keeps getting more and more unpredictable. The most recent episode saw some dramatics, hard choices, and an element that was nothing short of mind-blowing! While television actor Harshad Chopda was the first to be confirmed as the finalist after the emotionally charged task, everyone was left in shock at the sudden elimination of Shivangi Joshi.

The task that decided the first finalist

Lock Upp 2: Shivangi Joshi's shocking eviction sparks fan war after Harshad Chopda becomes first finalist. (Netflix India)

With this new task, the contestants got the opportunity to choose the first finalist of Lock Upp 2. It was a group task that required one single choice of contestant to make them the first finalist of Lock Upp 2. When the discussion started, Laila, Shilpa Shinde, Ram Kapoor and Akanksha Chamola left the race by themselves, which led to the selection of only Harshad Chopda and Shivangi Joshi. Both of them were put inside the last cell to decide between themselves about who will stay back and who will leave. It became very emotional and not an easy task for the contestants as both of them refused to put themselves above each other.

During their conversation, Harshad admitted something unexpected, taking Shivangi by surprise. He said, “I did lose the game.”

Shivangi answered, saying that if the trophy was supposed to be her property, then sooner or later she will earn it. For several minutes both competitors were persuading each other that the finalist place belongs to the other one.

An emotional sacrifice crowns the first finalist

Since both the contestants were reluctant to make the ultimate decision, jailer Riteesh Deshmukh intervened and requested them to put an end to their deadlock. Even though initially Harshad had agreed to give his place to someone else, yet finally he decided not to back off and claimed that for once he would like to think of himself first.

Shivangi then walked out of the prison cell thereby declaring Harshad Chopda as the very first finalist of Lock Upp 2. This move did come at a price as Shivangi cried after leaving the cell and expressed that Harshad deserved the title as much as she did.

Fans are divided

It did not take long before the episode became the centre of all conversations in the season as people expressed very diverse opinions about what happened. There were those who thought that Harshad's confession would make things hard on Shivangi emotionally. It was suggested that his words implied some kind of indirect pressure on her that forced her to sacrifice her chances and even called him a "man of emotional blackmail." Others asked themselves why it was hard for Shivangi to celebrate Harshad's success.

One user on X wrote, “STFU Harshad, stop doing emotional blackmail, she's just fighting for her self and playing her game this is why she came here.. She never asked uh to play for her self in any task, u chose it so please stop behaving like🤡🤡.” Another user on the platform wrote, “Harshad and Shivangi have turned#lockupp2 into another saas bahu saga. Damn boring storyline.”

Nevertheless, there were fans who supported Harshad. They claimed that he has always been supporting Shivangi in the whole season and deserved to think of himself as well. One user said, “From day one, Harshad stood like a shield for her loyal, consistent, unwavering !! But when it was her turn to stand for him, she chose tears, Emotions were used as a weapon, not a bond. Shivangi's friendship was just convenient.” Another one wrote on X, “#AkankshaChoudhary to yuu hi badnaam hai, Asli Naagin to#ShivangiJoshi nikli. Harshad always stood by her, & she is saying that she is more deserving.. huhh.”

Shreya Kalra shocks everyone

When the contestants thought that all the drama had ended, yet again, something else happened to shake things up. After winning a certain advantage in the previous part of the episode, Shreya Kalra was gifted the power to kick out one of the contestants from the show.

Contestants had assumed that Shreya would have chosen Yogesh Rawat or Akanksha Chamola for elimination, owing to the calculations inside the house. But instead, she shockingly announced Shivangi Joshi’s elimination from the game. This news had left many contestants shell-shocked as well as viewers who had expected Shivangi to emerge victorious in the show.

Fans call Shreya's move the smartest of the season

Even though the elimination of Shivangi was a big shock to everyone, Shreya's decision was highly appreciated by many people. Many people thought that she had eliminated her strongest competitor right on time. Shivangi had a great fan following on television, which gave her a strong probability of winning the show.

One user on X tweeted, “Shreya made the smartest move of the season by evicting Shivangi, not Yogesh! She removed her biggest competitor and almost secured the win.” Another wrote, “I think they thought Shreya would evict Yogesh seeing their history. But she changed the whole game by increasing the makers' work to save Shivangi.”

Winner rumours continue despite Shivangi's exit

Despite her elimination from the show, Shivangi Joshi is still very much in the thick of winning rumours. As per the report by India Forums, Shivangi is said to have emerged victorious at Lock Upp 2 even though she was eliminated from the show.

This rumour has caused many people to speculate that yet another twist awaits the participants of Lock Upp 2, which could see Shivangi making an appearance via wildcard entry or some other surprising method. Along with Shivangi winning, the same report says that Shreya Kalra will come second as far as Lock Upp 2 is concerned. Strangely, Harshad Chopda, who became the first finalist, is said to be absent from the Top 5 list.

Hosted by Kangana Ranaut, with Riteish Deshmukh serving as the jailer, Lock Upp 2 has continued to keep viewers hooked with emotional moments, strategic gameplay and surprise twists. New episodes stream every day at 8 pm on Netflix, except Fridays.