"Bihar Ki Beti": Bhojpuri Actor Akshara Singh Joins Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj

Bhojpuri actor Akshara Singh on Monday announced that she has joined Jan Suraaj, the campaign launched a year ago by political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor, who has vowed to transform his home state Bihar.

Making the announcement at the Jan Suraaj office here, Ms Singh called herself a "Bihar ki beti" who was moved by the aspiration of Mr Kishor, currently away in north Bihar as part of a statewide 'pada yatra'.

Often called the "Bhojpuri Queen" by virtue of being a highly paid actress in the relatively smaller-budget regional cinema industry, Ms Singh told reporters, "I chose Jan Suraaj precisely because it is a movement and not a run-of-the-mill political party".

"If I had any political ambitions, had I been looking for a ticket in elections, I could have approached my well-wishers who are aplenty in all political parties. But my dream is to see a developed ("viksit") Bihar and I feel proud to be associated with Prashant Kishor who is working to this end tirelessly", the actress said.

She was also asked about her recent meeting with Union minister and former BJP president Nitin Gadkari, which had fuelled speculation of her joining the party with which a number of her seniors in Bhojpuri cinema like Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan and Dinesh Lal Yadav "Nirahua" have been associated.

She replied, "Nitin sir is like my father. He showers affection on me whenever we meet. I was in Nagpur recently in connection with a stage show and met him on the sidelines. I request that nothing more be read into it".

Mr Kishor is the founder of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC ) which first shot to fame for handling Narendra Modi's successful campaign in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He gave up his political consultancy business in 2021 with his last assignment being the assembly polls in West Bengal, which were won by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, which surmounted a spirited challenge thrown by BJP.

Mr Kishor has said once he completes touring Bihar, Jan Suraaj may transform into a political party, though he has made it clear that he would not head the outfit nor himself contest elections.

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