Bhojpuri star and Independent candidate from Karakat constituency Pawan Singh.
Credit: PTI Photo
Patna: Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from the Karakat seat as an independent candidate, owns movable and immovable assets worth Rs 16.75 crore, according to an affidavit filed by him to the Election Commission.
Singh, who had earlier refused a BJP ticket from West Bengal, on Thursday filed his nomination papers from Karakat in his home state Bihar, amid the party maintaining a deafening silence over his entry into the fray against an NDA candidate.
Former union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who heads Rashtriya Lok Morcha, is in the fray as the NDA candidate in Karakat.
As per the affidavit, Singh owns movable assets worth Rs 5.04 crore and immovable properties worth Rs 11.70 crore.
Singh's movable assets include five bank accounts, three four-wheelers, a motorcycle worth Rs 1.39 crore and jewellery worth Rs 31.09 lakh and he has Rs 60,000 cash in hand.
His income for the year 2022-2023 was Rs 51.58 lakh.
Non-agricultural land in Arrah and Patna, two commercial properties in Arrah worth Rs 4.16 crore, and five residential properties in Mumbai and Lucknow worth Rs 6.45 crore are among his immovable properties, according to the affidavit.
With Pawan Singh entering the electoral battle as an independent candidate, the Karakat Lok Sabha seat is all set to witness a triangular contest.
NDA's candidate Kushwaha will soon file his nomination papers from the seat, while the CPI(ML) Liberation's Rajaram Singh has already submitted his papers as 'Mahagathbandhan' nominee.
Karakat will go to polls in the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections on June 1.