Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Monday in New Delhi. According to the information, Singh had sought time after 11:30 am to meet the BJP chief. This comes a day after the Bhojpuri star declined to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from the Asansol seat. He was named in the BJP's first list of 195 candidates.
Taking to his official handle on X, the singer confirmed that he was pulling out of the contest "due to some reason". Though he did not specify the reason for his decision, his candidature had drawn criticism from the TMC, which alleged that many of his songs were crude and depicted women, including those from the state, in a vulgar way.
Asansol accommodates a significant migrant population, and the BJP had anticipated that Singh would serve as an effective rival to Sinha, the veteran actor-politician who had been associated with the saffron party for decades before departing in 2019.
Did BJP ask Singh to pull out from Asansol?
However, according to reports, the BJP apparently asked Singh to withdraw from the race to alleviate the ensuing controversy, particularly amid the party's focus on the Sandeshkhali issue to target the TMC leadership. Several women in Sandeshkhali have levelled accusations of sexual assault and land grabbing against suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates. Subsequently, Sheikh and several of his associates have been apprehended.
Former BJP MP from Asansol and current TMC minister, Babul Supriyo, asserted that it was inconceivable for the BJP to nominate a candidate in their initial list without his consent. Supriyo pointed to "pressure" from the saffron party as the reason for Pawan Singh's withdrawal from the electoral race.
BJP releases first list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls
On Saturday (March 2), the ruling BJP announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi would fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani in the first list of 195 candidates. The list also included two former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Biplab Deb (Tripura) -- as well as Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who will fight again from Kota in Rajasthan.
