Updated June 5th 2026, 21:02 IST

Patna: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released its first list of candidates for the 2026 Bihar Legislative Council biennial elections.
Bhojpuri actor and singer Pawan Singh is among the MLC candidates fielded by BJP. The other candidates are Dr Sanjay Mayukh, Anil Kumar Thakur and Sheela Pandit.
Pawan Singh is one of the biggest names in Bhojpuri entertainment, known both as an actor and a singer with a massive fan following across Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh. He previously contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Karakat constituency in Bihar as an independent candidate after being denied a BJP ticket. However, he lost the elections, finishing second.
Pawan Singh first joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in September 2017. However, he was expelled from the party in May 2024 for contesting the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate. He then officially rejoined the BJP in October 2025.
Expressing his gratitude to BJP for giving him the MLC ticket, Singh wrote on social media platform X, “Heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the Bharatiya Janata Party for expressing their trust in me.”
Former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) also released first list of candidates for the upcoming Bihar Legislative Council elections and by-elections. Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar, who recently entered politics, has been given a ticket for the MLC elections from Patna.
JD(U) has also given tickets to three other leaders:
Elections for 10 seats of the Bihar Legislative Council, including one by-election seat, are set to be held on June 18.
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Published June 5th 2026, 19:55 IST