India
Bhojpuri singer Kalpana Patowary, who hails from Assam, has joined the BJP in the presence of its president Amit Shah and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi in Patna
After joining the party yesterday, Patowary said "I am impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision and leadership. I'll use politics as a tool, medium and power to serve more and reach out. BJP for me is an ideology."
"I have not joined BJP for contesting elections as of now, but I am ready to help the party in every possible way through my art", said the multi-lingual singer who has also lent her voice to many Bollywood films.
Kalpana is a well-known singer and has sung for many regional and Hindi cinema. She has been a co-singer in some famous Bollywood songs. She sang the song "Uncha Lamba Kad" in Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif starrer movie Welcome. She also gave the hit party song Gandi Baat in Shahid Kapoor starrer R. Rajkumar.
"Even though I join politics, my field of work will be the same - that is music and more importantly archiving our folk musical heritage", said the singer who is popularly known as 'Bhojpuri Queen'.
A playback and folk singer from Assam, Kalpana is a disciple of Ustad Gulam Mustafa Khan.
She gained more popularity after her participation in the reality show Junoon - Kuchh Kar Dikhaane Ka (2008) on NDTV Imagine. A graduate in English literature, Patowary is also the first Bhojpuri singer to present age-old tradition of Khadi Birha to international platforms.
With inputs from PTI
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