• Source:JND

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Upendra Singh Rawat on Monday said that he will not fight any elections till proven innocent in 'obscene video' case.

Taking to his official X handle, Rawat wrote, "An edited video of mine is being made viral which is generated by DeepFake AI technology, for which I have lodged an FIR. In this regard, I have requested the party president to get it investigated. I will not contest any election until I am proven innocent."

His remark came a day after an obscene video allegedly involving him surfaced on social media. The video that went viral online shows a man in an objectionable position with a woman.

Rawat was among the 195 candidates included in the first list of BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

His announcement for not contesting polls comes a day after popular Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh, a candidate from Bengal's Asansol constituency,  withdrew from the race for the Lok Sabha.

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Taking to his official handle on X, the singer confirmed that he was pulling out of the contest "due to some reason".

"I express my heartfelt gratitude to the top leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party. The party trusted me and declared me as the candidate from West Bengal's Asansol but due to some reason, I will not be able to contest the elections from Asansol," Singh posted from his X handle on Sunday.

Adding to the intrigue around his decision to stand down from the contest, the national general secretary of the ruling Trinamool Congress, Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, tagged the Bhojpuri singer's post with a comment reading, "The indomitable spirit and power of the people of West Bengal."

(With inputs from agency)