New Delhi: New Delhi: A day after he was fielded by the BJP from Asansol, Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh asked the party leadership to recuse him from contesting this term.
The singer, who had Bhojpuri hits like Lollipop Lagelu which had more than 220 million hits on YouTube, faced a severe backlash from leaders of the Trinamool Congress who said that he denigrated the dignity of Bengali women in his videos.
Singh made the announcement on X.
“I express my heartfelt gratitude to the top leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party. The party trusted me and declared me as the candidate from Asansol but due to some reason I will not be able to contest the elections from Asansol,” he posted, barely a day after a video of him had surfaced online where he was seen celebrating the party’s announcement of his candidature.
भारतीय जनता पार्टी के शीर्ष नेतृत्व को दिल से आभार प्रकट करता हु।
— Pawan Singh (@PawanSingh909) March 3, 2024
पार्टी ने मुझ पर विश्वास करके आसनसोल का उम्मीदवार घोषित किया लेकिन किसी कारण वश में आसनसोल से चुनाव नहीं लड़ पाऊंगा…@JPNadda
After his announcement, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said that the “indomitable spirit and power” of the people of West Bengal had led to this. The current MP from the seats is actor Shatrughan Sinha, who won the seat on a TMC ticket.
Several TMC leaders had pointed to Singh’s videos after his candidature was announced. State minister Babul Supriyo said fielding Singh from Asansol shows the BJP’s “insensitivity” against Bengali women.
“In terms of offending Bengali women & painting them in an utterly disrespectful light in Film titles & Songs, Pawanji (nothing against him as an Artist, I reiterate) projects Bengali Songs & Films is surely a repeat offender (sic),” he wrote on X.
😂 Pressure from @BJP4India on him to withdraw citing 'personal reasons' !! It's absolutely impossible that BJP wud name a candidate in their first list without taking his consent or without a detailed discussion with the candidate !! Even today morning we had BJP defending his… https://t.co/ZOUhobV5G5 pic.twitter.com/7Ri0ME9FaU
— Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) March 3, 2024
TMC MP Saket Gokhale said that Singh’s videos are “extremely vulgar and misogynist” and that they target the women of Bengal. “(Modi) has been paying lip service to ‘Nari Shakti’ as part of his 2024 election campaign to hoodwink women around the country, Gokhale posted.
On Saturday, the BJP announced its first list of 195 candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, naming 20 candidates in the 42 seats from the state. The party has this time not given a ticket to union minister John Barla, fielding Manoj Tigga instead.
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