Popular folk and devotional singer Maithili Thakur will contest the upcoming Bihar assembly election on a BJP ticket from Alinagar, the party announced on Wednesday.

Sharing the second list released by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Maithili wrote, “A new journey begins.”

The 25-year-old musician met Bharatiya Janata Party election in-charge Vinod Tawde and Union minister Nityanand Rai in Bihar earlier last month, sparking speculation that she may contest the upcoming Bihar assembly election on a BJP ticket from a constituency in Darbhanga.

Apart from Maithili, eleven other candidates were mentioned in the list BJP released on Wednesday. The party has fielded new candidates in nine out of the 12 assembly constituencies.

Other key candidates in the second list include former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Anand Mishra, who will contest from Buxar, MP Virendra Kumar from Rosra, and Chhoti Kumari from Chhapra.

In the first list published Tuesday, the BJP had announced names of candidates for 71 Assembly seats.

Maithili was born in Benipatti, Madhubani district, Bihar. She began her training in Maithili folk, Hindustani classical music, harmonium and tabla when she was just four years old.

In 2011, Thakur appeared in Zee TV’s Little Champs. Four years later, she contested in Sony TV’s Indian Idol Junior. In 2017 she participated in the first season of Colors TV’s reality show Rising Star, where she finished as the first runner up. Following her victory, her popularity on social media rose significantly. She was awarded the Lokmat Sur Jytosna National Music Award in 2021. Last year, Thakur was honoured with the Cultural Ambassador of the Year Award by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inaugural National Creators Award.

Currently, Thakur runs a YouTube channel, with over 5.12 million subscribers, featuring songs from the Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas along with her two younger brothers Rishav and Ayachi.

Bihar will go to polls on November 6 and November 11. Counting will be held on November 14.