New Delhi/Kolkata: Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh withdrew his name from the Lok Sabha poll contest from Asansol seat in West Bengal on Sunday, a day after the BJP named him as its candidate from the constituency currently represented by Trinamool Congress’ Shatrughan Sinha.

The TMC was quick to mock the BJP by saying it surrendered the seat even before the commencement of the election campaign.

In a post on X, Singh thanked the BJP leadership for his candidature but added that he will not be able to contest from Asansol “due to some reason”.

Though he did not specify the reason for his decision, his candidature had drawn criticism from the TMC, which

alleged that many of his songs were crude and depicted women, including those from the state, in a vulgar way.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee shared Singh’s post on X and said, “The INDOMITABLE SPIRIT AND POWER OF THE PEOPLE OF WEST BENGAL.”

Asansol is home to a sizeable migrant population, and the BJP had hoped that Singh would be an effective counter to Sinha, the actor-politician who was in the saffron party for decades before walking out in 2019.

The BJP apparently decided to nudge Singh to step aside from the contest to defuse the controversy, more so when the party has seized on the Sandeshkhali row to go after the TMC leadership.

Many women in Sandeshkhali have accused suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates of sexual assault and land grabbing. Sheikh and many of his cronies have been arrested.

Former Asansol MP from BJP and current TMC minister Babul Supriyo said it was impossible that the BJP would name a candidate in their first list without taking his consent and cited “pressure” from the saffron party which prompted Pawan Singh to withdraw from the race.