Bhojpuri Singer Pawan Singh Expresses Inability To Contest Lok Sabha Polls From Asansol; Check Why

Bhojpuri singer and actor Pawan Singh, who got a BJP Lok Sabha ticket from the West Benga's Asansol seat today thanked the party leadership for the trust but expressed inability to contest from the seat. Taking to X, Singh said that he won't be able to contest the seat due to some reason. The BJP released a list of 195 candidates in its first list yesterday which included names of many key political figures including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I express my heartfelt gratitude to the top leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party. The party trusted me and declared me as the candidate from West Bengal's Asansol but due to some reason, I will not be able to contest the elections from Asansol," said Pawan Singh.

Why Pawan Singh Opted Out Of Asansol?

According to Zee News TV report, Pawan Singh wanted to contest the Lok Sabha polls on BJP ticket from the Arrah seat. Arrah in Bihar is comparatively a safe seat and a stronghold for the BJP. The saffron party had bagged the seat in the 2019 polls when RK Singh won the seat. 

भोजपुरी सिंगर पवन सिंह का लोकसभा चुनाव लड़ने से इनकार, कहा- 'किसी वजह से चुनाव नहीं लड़ पाऊंगा, बीजेपी के शीर्ष नेतृत्व को दिल से आभार'#BreakingNews #LokSabhaElections2024 #BJPFirstList #BJP #NDA #PawanSingh #ZeeNews @CHANDANS_LIVE @anchorjiya @jhapras pic.twitter.com/JuM2dV5RZr — Zee News (@ZeeNews) March 3, 2024

Another reason for Singh to refuse Asansol's ticket is Shatrughan Sinha, who also hails from Bihar and was a BJP MP earlier. Veteran actor Sinha is said to be like a father figure in the entertainment industry for Pawan Singh. According to reports, Sinha even helped Singh in the early days of his career when he was just a budding singer. 

TMC's Barb Against BJP

Also, leaders of the Trinamool Congress have raised objection on certain songs of Pawan Singh. TMC leader Babul Supriyo said that posters of Pawan Singh's songs reflects BJP's mindset about women of Bengal.

Asansol ko Pawan Singh ji Mubarak ho  @BJP4Bengal .. I have not verified it personally nor will verify them but I am flooded with posters of these films.. Nothing against Pawanji the artist, but if these posters are true, then it clearly shows what kind of respect @BJP4India… pic.twitter.com/7q284ta4t4 — Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) March 2, 2024

"Have always said, that BJP is anti-Bengali - the fact that they didn't give a cabinet seat to any Bengali in the 10 years they are in power is proof enough for that but now fielding Pawan Singh frm Asansol shows their insensitivity against Bengali women," said Supriyo.

It appears that due to social media backlash and the above mentioned reasons, Pawan Singh deemed it fit to refuse the BJP ticket from Asansol. Now, it will be important to see whether the BJP fields Singh from any other seat or drops him from the list.