Bhojpuri singer and actor Pawan Singh had a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday, raising speculation about him being the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) candidate for one of Bhojpur's seven assembly seats, with Ara or Barhara being the most likely ones.
Singh was ousted from the BJP a year ago for deciding to run for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as an Independent from Bihar's Karakat constituency. His latest meeting with Shah followed soon after he met Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief and Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha, who had secured third position in Karakat and diplomatically blamed his defeat on the BJP and Singh.
BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde, who was present at both meetings, explained Singh's stance, stating, "Kushwaha has given blessings. Pawan will work for the NDA in the coming [assembly] election as a BJP worker." He went on to stress that Singh is still with the party.
Pawan Singh lost the 2024 Lok Sabha election to Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation candidate Raja Ram Singh by a margin of 105,858 votes.
People close to the development indicated that the BJP has identified Singh's strength in the area. In an attempt to rejoin the party, he initially met with former Ara Lok Sabha MP R K Singh.
Ranu Singh, Pawan Singh's brother, hinted at the singer's aspiration, saying, "The singer wishes to be the NDA candidate from Bhojpur. Let us see what the party [BJP] decides." He further said that Singh getting a ticket may effect all seats in the Sahabad region, which consists of Bhojpur, Buxar, Kaimur, and Shahabad districts.
In the 2020 Vidhan Sabha elections, NDA was able to win only two seats out of 22 in the region. Singh's decision to contest independently had earlier divided the Rajput vote, leading to Kushwaha's loss in 2024 and causing NDA to lose all four Lok Sabha seats in Sahabad.
Traditional strongholds of the BJP have been Rajputs historically. The patched-up understanding between Singh and Kushwaha is considered a NDA strategy to harmonize Rajput and Koeri votes before the Bihar assembly polls.
Rajputs are concentrated mostly in western and north Bihar, and have significant numbers in Aurangabad, Buxar, Arrah, Vaishali, Sheohar, Siwan, Gopalganj, and Motihari (East Champaran).
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