Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh, BJP's Asansol candidate, opts out of polls

Bhojpuri singer and actor Pawan Singh has decided to step back from the electoral contest in Asansol, West Bengal, which was initially announced as his battleground for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Singh's withdrawal comes amidst the much-anticipated release of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) first list of candidates for the parliamentary polls.

Pawan Singh, expressing his gratitude towards the party leadership, conveyed his inability to proceed with the electoral race through a post on social media platform X. Despite being entrusted with the candidacy from Asansol by the BJP, Singh cited undisclosed reasons for his decision to withdraw from the electoral fray.

Asansol, currently held by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, has been a hotly contested constituency in recent years. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the seat was claimed by BJP's Babul Supriyo, defeating TMC's Moon Moon Sen. However, Supriyo's subsequent resignation and defection to the TMC paved the way for Shatrughan Sinha's victory in the 2022 polls.

The BJP's unveiling of its first list of 195 candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections has drawn significant attention. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to contest from Varanasi, while party president Amit Shah will run from Gujarat's Gandhinagar constituency.

Notably, besides Pawan Singh, the BJP has strategically fielded three prominent Bhojpuri film stars as candidates. Ravindra Shyamnarayan Shukla, popularly known as Ravi Kishan, will contest from Gorakhpur, a stronghold of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Manoj Tiwari, a well-known Bhojpuri singer-actor and incumbent MP from North East Delhi, will seek re-election from the same constituency for the third consecutive term.