Bhojpuri singer and actor Pawan Singh announced on Sunday, March 2, that he will not be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal from Asansol, a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) named him as their candidate from the constituency.
Singh took to X, formerly Twitter, to express his gratitude to the BJP leadership for considering him but stated that due to "some reason," he would not be able to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
Read Tweet Here:
"I express my heartfelt gratitude to the top leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party," Singh tweeted. "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...," Pawan Singh wrote on X while tagging to BJP National President JP Nadda.
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Singh's decision to withdraw from the race comes as a surprise, as he was seen as a potential crowd-puller for the BJP in Asansol. The constituency has a significant Bhojpuri-speaking population, and Singh is a popular figure among them.
In Asansol, the BJP has fielded Bhojpuri actor-singer Pawan Singh against the sitting TMC MP Shatrughan Sinha. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, March 2, released its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which are expected to be held in April or May this year. Of 195 candidates, 34 are Ministers from Centre and States while two are former Chief Ministers on the list.