This time the tune of folk music is also resonating in the election atmosphere of Bihar. Many popular folk singers of the state are ready to try their luck in the upcoming assembly elections.
Popular Maithili folk singer Maithili Thakur has already indicated that she wants to contest Bihar Assembly elections. Recently he also met senior leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“This will be a different journey of my life and I am fully prepared for it,” Thakur told the media after meeting BJP leaders Vinod Tawde and Union Minister Nityanand Rai. At the same time, Jan Suraj Party has declared Bhojpuri singer Ritesh Ranjan Pandey as its candidate from Karghar assembly seat.
Speaking to PTI, Pandey said, “I am very grateful to Jan Suraj Party chief Prashant Kishore ji for giving me this opportunity. I am a son of this soil. My birthplace is Karghar, so I am confident that the people here will support me.” He said that being an artist, he constantly maintains contact with the people and wants to work for the development of the area.
Meanwhile, speculations are rife that Bhojpuri superstar Pawan Singh will also enter the electoral fray. Pawan Singh, a resident of Ara in Bhojpur district, had recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha. It is believed that he can contest elections on BJP ticket from any seat of Bhojpur district, especially from Arrah or Barhara.
Singh had tried his luck as an independent candidate from Karakat seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but had to face defeat. Raja Ram Kushwaha of the Left Party (CPI-ML) was victorious from that seat.
In the 2020 assembly elections, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won only two out of 22 seats in the Shahabad region (Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas and Kaimur districts). This time BJP is trying to strengthen its hold here.
Popular Bhojpuri singer Shilpi Raj recently met Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan in Delhi. The party shared pictures of the meeting on ‘X’.
Party sources say that Shilpi Raj can also be made a candidate in the assembly elections. Efforts to contact him for comment in this regard were unsuccessful.
Popular Bhojpuri singer Alok Kumar, who recently joined Jan Suraj Party, told PTI, “I joined the party because I have faith in Prashant Kishore ji. He has changed the definition of politics. He has a vision for Bihar. However, let me make it clear that I have not joined the party to contest elections. If the party asks, I will consider.” He said that artistes should enter politics and “there is nothing wrong in it.”
Bhojpuri actor and BJP MP Manoj Tiwari told PTI, “Bhojpuri stars are doing well in national politics. I hope that this time too more folk singers will win and enter the Bihar Assembly.”
Tiwari, a resident of Atarwanlia village in Kaimur district of Bihar and currently a BJP MP in Delhi, said, “Folk singers are deeply connected with the public and they know their pulse. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, politics is a medium of serving the public. Inspired by this ideology, folk singers are entering the politics of Bihar.”
There is only one Bhojpuri singer Vinay Bihari in the current Bihar Assembly, who is the BJP MLA from Lauria assembly seat in West Champaran district. Bihar assembly elections will be held in two phases. Voting will be held in the first phase on November 6 and in the second phase on November 11. Counting of votes will take place on November 14.
