Bhojpuri actor and singer Pawan Singh has been provided with Y+ security category a month ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, sources said on Wednesday.
There was no official statement from either the Ministry of Home Affairs or Mr. Singh; however, the development occurred days after his return to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is a part of the ruling alliance in the state.
Y+ category security includes around 11 to 12 personnel, consisting of two Personal Security Officers (PSOs) and eight to ten commandos. The forces usually assigned to provide this protection are the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
Security cover is granted based on the threat assessment conducted by the Intelligence Bureau and is subject to periodic review.
Ahead of last year’s Lok Sabha elections, Singh was expelled from the BJP after he declared his independent candidacy against the candidate from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from the Karakat parliamentary constituency. He narrowly lost to Rajaram Singh Kushwaha of the CPI-ML.
“I contested the Lok Sabha elections, and now I am ready to fight the Bihar Assembly elections in 2025,” Singh said earlier this year.
When asked if he would contest the elections on a BJP ticket, he replied, “When the time comes, everything will become clear.”
On September 30, Singh met with Union Ministers Amit Shah and J P Nadda, also the BJP national president. The singer affirmed that he is now a member of the BJP.
In addition to meeting Shah and Nadda, Singh also met Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) president and NDA ally Upendra Kushwaha, who lost in the Lok Sabha elections following Singh’s decision to run as an independent.
Singh was accompanied to the meeting by BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde and party secretary Rituraj Sinha.
Tawde, the BJP’s organisational in-charge for Bihar, confirmed that Singh is now part of the BJP and will actively support the ruling NDA in the state.
The singer’s wife, Jyoti Singh, has also announced her intention to contest the Bihar elections, stating that she may run from either the Karakat or Dehri Assembly constituency. She has been actively engaging with the public as a social worker.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, she campaigned for her husband in Karakat, building strong ties with the people.