Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh, who had withdrawn from the Lok Sabha elections last week, announced on Wednesday that he would fight the elections.

“I will contest elections to fulfil the promise made to my society, people and mother,” Singh said in a social media post.

It was not clear if Singh was referring to the Lok Sabha elections, if he would contest on a BJP ticket and from which constituency.

On March 2, the BJP named Singh as its candidate from West Bengal’s Asansol constituency in its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. However, the next day, he had announced that he would not contest the polls.

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Singh, who hails from Arrah in Bihar’s Bhojpur district, had not specified the reason for backing out.

However, his announcement had come after leaders of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress party criticised his songs and music videos for being derogatory towards women in the state.

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee had attributed Singh’s decision to withdraw from the general election as a result of the “indomitable spirit and power of the people of West Bengal”.

BJP leader Amit Malviya had defended his party’s decision to field Singh amid the criticism, saying that the Trinamool Congress should “respect those who work for a living”.

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The BJP released its second list of candidates on Wednesday. The party has not named another candidate for the Asansol constituency so far.


Also read: What explains the political appeal of Bhojpuri music stars for Bihari migrants?