Maithili Thakur, folk singer-turned-politician set to become Bihar’s youngest MLA

Folk singer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Maithili Thakur has won from the Alinagar constituency in her first election. The 25-year-old poll debutant had joined the BJP just a month before the assembly elections with the aim to “serve Bihar.”

“This is like a dream. People have a lot of expectations of me… This will be my first term as an MLA, and I will do my best for my constituency… I will serve my people as their daughter… I can only see Alinagar right now and how I can work for them,” Thakur said in a video.

Thakur, who considers contesting the elections as the “best decision” of her life, said she is “mentally prepared” to serve the people of Bihar.

“I don’t think for even a second whether I will win or lose because I am so happy and satisfied with my 30-day journey. I have complete faith. I feel like I will be living here and serving the people, so I am mentally prepared for that,” she told NDTV’s Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal.

Earlier, in October, Thakur had said that she wants to “serve Bihar.”

“I have been doing this through my folk songs, and that is why I didn’t want to go abroad. I want to carry forward the culture of my region, and if politics gives me this opportunity, nothing would be more important to me. I don’t want to enter politics and do politics. I want to serve my region,” she had added.

Thakur, who was not interested in politics until a few years ago, said she was inspired to enter politics after listening to her “favourite leader,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“PM Modi is an inspiration to the youth. I am lucky to work under his leadership,” she said.(NDTV)