Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh, BJP candidate from Bengal's Asansol, opts out of Lok Sabha polls

Earlier in the day, TMC MP Saket Gokhale targeted the BJP over Singh's nomination, stating that 'Singh makes videos that are extremely VULGAR & misogynist & targets the women of Bengal (sic)'.

New Delhi: New Delhi: A day after he was fielded by the BJP from Asansol, Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh asked the party leadership to recuse him from contesting this term.

The singer, who had Bhojpuri hits like Lollipop Lagelu which had more than 220 million hits on YouTube, faced a severe backlash from leaders of the Trinamool Congress who said that he denigrated the dignity of Bengali women in his videos. 

Singh made the announcement on X.

“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,” he posted, barely a day after a video of him had surfaced online where he was seen celebrating the party’s announcement of his candidature. 

After his announcement, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said that the “indomitable spirit and power” of the people of West Bengal had led to this. The current MP from the seats is actor Shatrughan Sinha, who won the seat on a TMC ticket. 

Several TMC leaders had pointed to Singh’s videos after his candidature was announced. State minister Babul Supriyo said fielding Singh from Asansol shows the BJP’s “insensitivity” against Bengali women.

“In terms of offending Bengali women & painting them in an utterly disrespectful light in Film titles & Songs, Pawanji (nothing against him as an Artist, I reiterate) projects Bengali Songs & Films is surely a repeat offender (sic),” he wrote on X.

TMC MP Saket Gokhale said that Singh’s videos are “extremely vulgar and misogynist”  and that they target the women of Bengal. “(Modi) has been paying lip service to ‘Nari Shakti’ as part of his 2024 election campaign to hoodwink women around the country, Gokhale posted.  

On Saturday, the BJP announced its first list of 195 candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, naming 20 candidates in the 42 seats from the state. The party has this time not given a ticket to union minister John Barla, fielding Manoj Tigga instead.