Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 | Maithili Thakur, folk singer on a different track

The celebrity-turned-politician, who is the youngest candidate in the Bihar poll fray, is contesting as the BJP nominee for Alinagar

Patna: Some call her a youth icon. The BJP calls her the ‘cultural voice of Mithila’. One of the youngest candidates in the Bihar Assembly election fray, the celebrated folk singer-turned-politician, Maithili Thakur, turned 25 this July, before joining the saffron brigade and becoming eligible to contest an election as the BJP nominee.

The celebrity, who is receiving bouquets as well as brickbats ever since she was nominated as the BJP candidate for Alinagar in Darbhanga, is, however, unfazed over the criticism. Like a seasoned politician, she talks of empowerment of women and youth, but also wants to push the Hindutva agenda, which her party pursues.

“We would like to rename Alinagar as Sitanagar, as a tribute to Goddess Sita,” she avers during her campaign, well aware of the fact that her constituency, which came into being following delimitation in 2008, is dominated by Brahmins, Yadavs, and Muslims.

Born in a Brahmin family in Darbhanga’s Benippati, Maithili this week released her new album ‘Chhath ki Mahima’ on the occasion of the revered festival here: Chhath. “This album has folk songs and tales and is very close to my heart,” she said during her campaign for the election, where she is pitted against the RJD’s Vinod Mishra, who was the runner-up in the 2020 Assembly polls.

Mishra, also a Brahmin, representing the Mahagathbandhan, speaks highly of Maithili and says she is a great artist. “I listen to her folk songs. And will keep admiring her as an artist, but politics is a different ballgame altogether,” said Mishra, who lost the 2020 Assembly polls by a margin of 3,000 votes to Mishrilal Yadav of the VIP from Alinagar.

Though Mishrilal, after his win, joined the BJP, the saffron camp denied him the ticket and fielded Maithili, who was earlier a brand ambassador of the Election Commission and has won several government awards in the past.

“I express my sincere gratitude to the Central and State leadership of the BJP for reposing faith in me and fielding me from Alinagar, where I will continue to serve with my full strength and complete dedication and commitment to the people,” she tweeted in Hindi soon after filing her nomination papers.

Incidentally, Alinagar constituency, which came into being in 2008, has seen three Assembly elections till now: 2010, 2015 and 2020. While the RJD’s towering leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui won it in 2010 and 2015, and the VIP’s Mishrilal Yadav romped home in 2020, it would be interesting to see whether the BJP wrests this seat riding on the popularity of Maithili in a close fight.