PatnaOctober 11, 2025 03:32 PM IST
First published on: Oct 11, 2025 at 03:32 PM IST
In an apparent setback to the BJP in Bihar ahead of the Assembly polls, Bhojpuri actor-singer Pawan Singh on Saturday said he would not contest the elections, even though he reaffirmed his support to the party.
“I, Pawan Singh, want to inform my Bhojpuri community that I didn’t join the party (BJP) to contest the elections, nor do I intend to. I am a true soldier of the party and will remain so,” he said in an X post in Hindi, putting to rest speculation that the BJP was going to field him from Ara or Barhara (his home turf).
Terming Singh’s decision not to contest as his “individual call”, BJP sources said he was “very much” in contention for a ticket from Ara or Barhara. “The Ara seat may now go to MLA Amrendra Pratap Singh or senior leader Sanjay Tiger or Vishal Singh (son of former Ara MP Meena Singh). In Barhara, the party may field sitting MLA Raghvendra Pratap Singh or a local leader,” sources said.
The development came a day after Pawan Singh’s estranged wife Jyoti Singh met Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor. The meeting had triggered speculation about the JSP fielding Jyoti against Singh.
However, Kishor clarified that Jyoti had not met him with any intention to contest the elections but to raise her voice against the “injustice” meted out to her.
“One of the main reasons for Singh to opt out could be Jyoti’s growing defiance. Singh, whose Lok Sabha candidature from Asansol (in West Bengal) was withdrawn by the BJP last year after a row erupted over him ‘objectifying women’ (in his songs), did not want to leave any room for Jyoti to run a similar campaign,” Ara-based political analyst Ashutosh Kumar Pandey told The Indian Express.
After being dropped by the BJP, Pawan Singh had contested as an Independent from Bihar’s Karakat Lok Sabha seat in 2024 against the BJP’s ally and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha. The result was that the CPI (M-L) Liberation’s Raja Ram Singh won, with Pawan Singh pushing Kushwaha to the third spot.
Singh returned to the BJP fold a few days ago in Delhi, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Upendra Kushwaha present in person to welcome him back.
By reinducting Singh, the BJP was looking to control damage in the crucial Shahabad region of the state in view of the growing disenchantment among senior Rajput leaders such as former Ara MP R K Singh and Saran MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
The BJP had hoped Singh’s return would help it consolidate OBC Kushwaha and Rajput votes in the Shahabad region, comprising the districts of Bhojpur, Kaimur, Rohtas, and Buxar.
While in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls the NDA lost all four seats in Shahabad, its Assembly tally in the region has been consistently on the decline — from 17 of the 22 seats in 2010 to five in 2015 and just two in 2020.
However, despite opting out of the race, Singh is likely to be one of the BJP’s star campaigners in the Shahabad and Magadh regions, where he continues to have a huge following since 2008.