Bhojpuri Beats: Can Bihar’s Star Singers Splash Political Waters?
Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh with Bihar politician Upendra Kushwaha (Image credit X.com)
From Pawan Singh’s BJP comeback to the cultural decline of Bhojpuri music, how celebrity politics in Bihar strikes the wrong note.
By AMIT KUMAR
Patna, October 12, 2025 — When Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh dramatically rejoined the BJP days before the Election Commission announced Bihar’s poll dates, political observers expected fireworks. Yet, as political analyst Rajeshwar Jaiswal explained in a discussion on The Raisina Hills’ YouTube channel, Singh’s political journey appears more like a soap opera than a serious campaign.
“Pawan Singh won’t contest,” Jaiswal stated plainly, adding: “He’s been apologizing to everyone, taking blessings — but the real action is with his wife, Jyoti Singh, who wants a ticket herself.”
Jyoti’s recent outreach to Prashant Kishor — seeking what she called “justice” — became symbolic of Bihar’s political theatrics. Kishor, Jaiswal said, “refused to bend party rules,” reinforcing that politics isn’t a stage for personal grievances.
Behind the melodrama lies a familiar script: celebrity aspiration colliding with party discipline.
The Politics of Performance
Jaiswal was unsparing in his assessment of Bhojpuri entertainers turned political aspirants. “Crowds come for their shows, not their politics,” he noted, adding: “They attract attention but not allegiance. At most, they can sway a few thousand votes — not Bihar.”
He explained how the BJP’s grassroots machinery values even micro-level influence. “If a performer can fetch 5,000 votes, the BJP will accommodate them. It’s pure electoral arithmetic.”
But star power, he argued, doesn’t translate into social respect. “Most of these Bhojpuri singers are second or third-grade artists,” Jaiswal said. “They have fame, not stature. Compare them with Sharda Sinha, whose music defines Bihar’s cultural soul — her influence is timeless because it’s rooted in dignity” added the analyst.
The Fall of Bhojpuri Grace
Once, Bhojpuri music carried the rhythm of the soil — lyrical, earthy, poetic. Today, it’s accused of vulgarity and moral decay.
“This decline began in the 1990s,” Jaiswal recalled. “Songs lost their lyrical purity and turned obscene. What used to be festive became filthy,” he argued.
Police advisories against “obscene Bhojpuri songs” during Durga Puja or Saraswati Puja have become routine. Social acceptance, Jaiswal lamented, is fading. “The problem isn’t just the singers,” he said. “It’s also the silence of society — the intellectual class that stopped speaking out.”
He blames social media for magnifying mediocrity. “They are reel superstars,” Jaiswal said. “They can’t speak proper Hindi, their acting is weak, and their influence vanishes once the phone screen goes dark,” he added.
Beyond the Hype
In electoral terms, the “Bhojpuri star factor” remains hyper-local. Their sway, Jaiswal explained, is confined to a few pockets like Buxar, Ara, and Karakat. “Everyone in Bihar knows them, but that doesn’t mean voters respect them,” he said, adding: “They’re entertainers, not leaders.”
Voters, he insisted, now look to Nitish Kumar, Narendra Modi, and Tejashwi Yadav for real leadership. “These singers may create noise, but the political melody is still composed by the big players,” he said.
As the conversation drew to a close, Jaiswal summed up Bihar’s paradox with characteristic clarity: “Bihar’s culture once produced legends like Bhikhari Thakur and Sharda Sinha. Today’s performers have turned fame into farce. They’ve harmed Bhojpuri identity more than they’ve helped it.”
Editor’s Note: Celebrity politics has always been a seductive illusion — a belief that fame can be exchanged for votes. Bihar’s Bhojpuri stars are only the latest to test that myth. What this conversation underscores is not just the trivialization of politics but the erosion of cultural dignity.
When art becomes spectacle and celebrity becomes substitute for substance, democracy itself loses tone and texture. Bihar’s voters, as Rajeshwar Jaiswal reminds us, still know the difference between a performance and a promise — a distinction that could decide not just elections, but the future of its cultural conscience.
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