Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh declines to contest from Asansol for upcoming Lok Sabha polls

West Bengal: On Sunday, Pawan Singh, Bhojpuri singer, took to social media platform X to announce that he won’t be able to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, who was the BJP’s pick from West Bengal’s Asansol. This comes a day after he was named in the BJP’s first list of candidates for the upcoming general elections.

On social media platform X, He tweeted “I express my heartfelt gratitude to the top leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party. The party trusted me and declared me as the candidate from Asansol but due to some reason I will not be able to contest the elections from Asansol.”

On social media platforms, the selection of Singh, a 38-year-old resident of Bihar, as the candidate for the Bengal seat had ignited a substantial row. Meanwhile, Pawan Singh is the third BJP leader who has opted out of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections after Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh Jayant Sinha and east Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir.

Several individuals raised concerns regarding Singh’s past work, particularly his discography, which contains several songs featuring “objectionable references” to Bengali women.

Minutes after his announcement, Trinamool Congress leaders slammed Pawan Singh. “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 from Asansol shows their insensitivity against Bengali women,” he posted on X.

TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee tweete, “Indomitable spirit and strength of the people of West Bengal”. Trinamool’s newly elected Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghosh said Pawan Singh backed out after facing criticism over his “sexist misogynist video”.

He tweeted, “Breaking News. All India Trinamool Congress’ impact! BJP Asansol candidate withdraws after massive backlash over candidate’s sexist misogynist video. BJP’s ‘women power’ call in Bengal now tarnished, it is learned It is hollow and meaningless”.”This khela hobe (the game is on) even before the game has started”, Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien said.