Kolkata:

Bhojpuri singer and actor Pawan Singh, who had expressed his inability to contest the Lok Sabha elections from West Bengal’s Asansol just a day after the BJP announced his name for the constituency, took a U-turn on Wednesday stating that he will fight the polls to honour the promise he made to his mother.

Mr Singh, however, did not say from which constituency or from which state and on which party’s ticket he will contest the elections.

“I will fight the elections to fulfil the promise I made to my mother, my society and the people,” Mr Singh wrote on X

“I seek blessings and cooperation from everyone,” he wrote.

Though he had not specified the reason behind his decision to not contest from Asansol, his candidature had drawn criticism from the Trinamool Congress, which alleged that some of his songs were crude and depicted women, including those from Bengal, in a vulgar way.

He was fielded by the BJP against actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, the Trinamool Congress MP from Asansol in the outgoing Lok Sabha.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Bhojpuri actor-singer Pawan Singh on Monday said “time would tell” if he would contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Talking to media after meeting BJP president JP Nadda, Singh, who was to be the BJP candidate from Asansol in West Bengal but announced he would not fight following a backlash over his candidature, evaded questions on what made him take the decision.

“I talked to the party president. Whatever happens in future will be good,” Singh told media after meeting Nadda.

Asked if he would fight in the upcoming elections, he said, “That only time would tell. I will share with you if something happens… Keep it on hold for now,” he said.

Singh, however, refused to reply to questions on what prompted him to make the decision.

“It’s a matter of time (samay samay ki baat hai),” he said.

Singh withdrew his name from the Lok Sabha poll contest from Asansol seat in West Bengal on Sunday, a day after the BJP named him as its candidate from the constituency currently represented by Trinamool Congress’ (TMC’s) Shatrughan Sinha.

In a post on X, Singh thanked the BJP leadership for his candidature but added that he will not be able to contest from Asansol “due to some reason”, even as he did not specify the reason behind his decision.

Singh’s candidature had drawn criticism from the TMC, which is in power in West Bengal. It alleged that many of his songs were crude and depicted women, including those from the state, in a vulgar way.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Amid a massive backlash over the BJP fielding him from Asansol Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal, Bhojpuri actor-singer Pawan Singh has said he would not be contesting the election.

“I thank the BJP leadership for trusting me and announcing my name as the candidate from Asansol, but I won’t be able to contest the election for some reason,” he said in a tweet in Hindi this afternoon.

The choice of 38-year-old Singh, a resident of Bihar, for the Bengal seat had sparked a huge row. Many had also pointed to his discography, which has several songs with objectionable references to Bengali women. The backlash on social media did not go unnoticed and the BJP, sources said, anticipated that Mr Singh’s candidature may harm its prospects in Asansol. A decision to drop him was taken and he was informed accordingly, the sources added. Then came the tweet in which the actor-singer said he is pulling out.

The Asansol Lok Sabha seat is currently replaced by Trinamool Congress’s Shatrughan Sinha. Mr Sinha was elected in a 2022 bypoll after singer-politician Babul Supriyo, who won the seat for the BJP in the 2014 and 2019 general elections, switched to the Trinamool.

Soon after the Bhojpuri actor’s post, Trinamool’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said the pullout was a result of the indomitable spirit and people of the people of West Bengal. Party leader Derek O’Brien quipped, “This is Khela Hobe even before the khela begins.”