Bihar Assembly Elections: Pawan Singh returns to BJP, meets Amit Shah & other leaders

Ahead of the assembly elections, the BJP in Bihar seems to be in a damage control mode and warned up to famous Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh, who met senior BJP leaders, including Union home minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda, in Delhi and rejoined the party on Tuesday. Singh also met RLP leader Upendra Kushwaha at the latter's residence. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Singh contested as an independent candidate from Karakat Lok Sabha seat and became the reason for the defeat of NDA candidate Upendra Kushwaha. Singh belongs to the Rajput community and with him contesting as an independent, the caste equation in the entire Magadh-Shahabad region changed and the NDA lost seven Lok Sabha seats.

On Monday, BJP Bihar in-charge Vindo Tawde met Kushwaha and Pawan Singh was on the agenda of the discussion. On Tuesday, Singh met Kushwaha, followed by a meeting with Amit Shah. "I was never out of the NDA. We are together," said Singh after meeting the top BJP leaders. The Opposition, however, said that BJP is using Singh to negotiate seat-sharing with Kushwaha. "BJP has been quite successful in putting a check on Kushwaha through Singh," RJD leader and Buxar MP Sudhakar Singh told ET.