MUMBAI: Sonu Sood on Monday evening thanked Priyanka Chopra for backing his appeal for free education to children of those who lost their lives to Covid, even as many fans pitched him for next Prime Minister of India.

"Thanks a ton Priyanka for your support. I promise we will make this happen," Sonu wrote to Priyanka, along with a folded hands emoji.

His post came in reply to Priyanka's long tweet earlier in the day, agreeing with Sonu's appeal and hailing him as a "visionary philanthropist".

"Have you heard of visionary philanthropists? My colleague @sonu_sood is one such. He thinks and plans ahead. Think this one out carefully because the impact is long-term and it involves children -- amongst the many horror stories of the pandemic, this is regarding those children who have lost one or both parents due to Covid-19. The disruption, for many, sadly leads to a complete stop in their education due to the combination of loss and economic factors due to that loss.

"Firstly, I am inspired that Sonu made this critical observation. Secondly, in typical Sonu style, he has also thought of a solution and come up with some suggestions for action. Sonu's suggestion is to both the state and central governments to ensure free education for all children affected by Covid. Whatever stage of studies they are at --school, college, or pursuing higher studies. The aim is not to allow a pause and definitely not for the lack of finance. If ignored, a huge number of children would be left without the opportunity as adults.

"For those outside govt, I appeal to your compassion combined with generosity and be the philanthropists, knock on institute doors or anyone who can help to make an impact that will matter. Adopt the education of a child if you can.

"I fully support Sonu's ideas and I will actively work towards finding ways to support education because I have always believed that #educationforeverychild is a birthright.

"And we cannot as a society let the virus change that," Priyanka concluded her post.

Meanwhile, many fans were emotional while conveying their hero worship for Sonu.

"We need a prime minister like Sonu sood," wrote a user.

"Sonu Sood should be next PM," wrote another.

Another user tweeted: "Immense respect for this man."

"Prime Minister like Sonu Sood," wrote another user.

Recently, Sonu arranged for a critically-ill Covid patient to be airlifted from Jhansi to Hyderabad for treatment. Priyanka, meanwhile, has started a fundraiser hoping to raise one million dollars for Covid medicine supply in India.