BJP Asansol candidate Pawan Singh steps aside from Lok Sabha contest

New Delhi: Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh withdrew his name from the Lok Sabha poll contest from Asansol seat in West Bengal on Sunday, a day after the BJP named him as its candidate from the constituency currently represented by Trinamool Congress's Shatrughan Sinha.

In a post on X, Singh thanked the BJP leadership for his candidature but added that he will not be able to contest from Asansol "due to some reason".

भारतीय जनता पार्टी के शीर्ष नेतृत्व को दिल से आभार प्रकट करता हु।
पार्टी ने मुझ पर विश्वास करके आसनसोल का उम्मीदवार घोषित किया लेकिन किसी कारण वश में आसनसोल से चुनाव नहीं लड़ पाऊंगा…@JPNadda

— Pawan Singh (@PawanSingh909) March 3, 2024

Though he did not specify the reason behind his decision, his candidature had drawn criticism from the TMC, which is in power in West Bengal, which alleged that many of his songs were crude and depicted women, including those from the state, in a vulgar way.

Asansol is home to a sizeable migrant population, and the BJP had hoped that Singh would be an effective counter to Sinha, the actor-politician who was in the saffron party for decades before walking out in 2019.

The BJP apparently decided to nudge Singh to step aside from the contest to defuse the controversy, more so when the party has seized on the Sandeshkhali row to go after the TMC leadership.

Many women in Sandeshkhali have accused suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates of sexual assault and land grabbing. Sheikh and many of his cronies have been arrested.