Bihar: After meeting BJP leaders, singer Maithili Thakur says ready to contest polls

Folk singer Maithili Thakur said that she was open to entering politics and contesting in the upcoming Bihar assembly election if the party decided to field her as a candidate

DARBHANGA: Two days after meeting Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Vinod Tawde and Union minister Nityanand Rai, folk singer Maithili Thakur on Tuesday said that she was open to entering politics and contesting in the upcoming Bihar assembly election if the party decided to field her as a candidate.

Folk singer Maithili Thakur.

“It would be a completely different journey for me and I am ready for it,” the 25-year-old singer told news channels.

Asked about her preference of constituency, she mentioned her deep roots in both Madhubani and Darbhanga, saying, “My grandmother’s village is in Madhubani and my maternal grandmother’s village is in Darbhanga. People from both places love me equally. But ultimately, it will be the party’s decision.”

Maithili’s ancestral village is located in Benipatti block of Madhubani district.

Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as her favourite leader, Maithili said, “I have been listening to his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and live speeches for years, which always inspired me.”

Referring to her meeting with Vinod Tawde and Nityanand Rai, Maithili said senior leader Tawde extended his good wishes and even wrote about her on X (formerly Twitter). “It’s a big thing for me,” she said.

People familiar with the matter in the BJP indicated that she could be considered for either the Benipatti or Alinagar Assembly seat, though the party has not yet made any official announcement regarding her candidature.

Two days earlier, Tawde had posted on X recalling that when Lalu Prasad Yadav’s regime began in 1995, several families had left Bihar. “The daughter of one such family, renowned singer Maithili Thakur, now wishes to return after witnessing Bihar’s changing pace of development,” he wrote. Tawde added that he and minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai had urged Thakur to contribute to the state’s progress, calling her the “daughter of Bihar.”

Maithili, who became a household name after finishing as the runner-up in the TV reality show ‘The Rising Star’ (2017), enjoys massive popularity on social media, with millions of followers on Instagram and YouTube.