"Here to serve society": Folk singer Maithili Thakur after joining BJP ahead of Bihar polls

Patna (Bihar) [India], October 14 (ANI): Folk and devotional singer Maithili Thakur, who joined the BJP this evening, said that she joined a political party not to become a politician, but to serve people.
Asked about her ideal, Thakur expressed her admiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, citing their leadership as her inspiration for joining the BJP.
Speaking to ANI, the newly joined BJP leader, Maithili Thakur, said, "I am very impressed with the PM and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Drawing inspiration from them, I am here to support them...I do not believe that joining a political party makes you a politician; I am here to serve society and take their ideology to each and every person... I am the daughter of Mithila; my soul resides in Mithila."
Asked if she will contest the elections, Thakur said that she will follow the party's directives.
"Party will know what they have in mind for me; I am here just to support them. I will do whatever the party orders," the folk singer asserted.
In a significant boost to the party ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, folk and devotional singer Maithili Thakur joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Patna in the presence of Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal earlier this evening.
According to the sources, Thakur is likely to contest the upcoming state assembly elections from Alinagar in Darbhanga.
The polling for Bihar's 243-seat Assembly is scheduled to take place on November 6 and November 11, with the counting set for November 14.
Earlier in the day, the BJP released its first list of 71 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
The Central Election Committee approved Mangal Pandey for Siwan, Tarkishore Prasad for Katihar, Ramkripal Yadav for Danapur, Nitin Nabin for Bankipur, Renu Devi for Bettiah, Prem Kumar for Gaya Town, Shreyasi Singh for Jamui, Vijay Kumar Sinha, Deputy Chief Minister, for Lakhisarai, and Deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary for Tarapur for the Bihar Assembly elections, among others.
According to the release, the BJP Central Election Committee met on October 12, under the chairmanship of Jagat Prakash Nadda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, along with other members of the Central Election Committee, were present during the deliberations.
On Sunday, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Bihar elections, with the BJP and JDU to contest on 101 seats each, the LJP (Ram Vilas) on 29 seats, the Rashtriya Lok Morcha on six seats, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) on six seats.
In these elections, the NDA will be up against the INDIA bloc, led by Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, the Congress, the CPI (ML) led by Deepankar Bhattacharya, the CPI, the CPM, and Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP). This time, Bihar will also see the entry of a new player in the form of Prashant Kishor and his party Jan Suraaj. (ANI)