Manoj Bajpayee slams creators of fake video featuring him for political gains

Mumbai, Oct 17 (IANS) The battle of Bihar is getting intense, and colourful with the approaching assembly elections. The Padma Shri awardee, actor Manoj Bajpayee recently found himself at the centre of a poll campaign video doctored by the IT wing of Rashtriya Janata Dal.

The 4 time National Award-winning actor slammed the creators of the video for unlawfully using his personality and imagery without his consent, for electoral gains and swinging the voters.

Tejashwi Yadav, the son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, took to his X, formerly Twitter, and shared the now deleted doctored video which aims to woo the voters in the favour of Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Calling out the party for their unethical use of the video, which Manoj shot for a streaming platform, the actor penned a long note quoting the original tweet of Tejashwi Yadav, the Chief Minister (CM) candidate from Mahagathbandhan.

He wrote, “I would like to publicly state that I have no association or allegiance with any political party. The video being circulated is a fake, patched-up edit of an ad I did for @PrimeVideoIN . I sincerely appeal to everyone sharing it to stop spreading such distorted content and urge people not to engage with or encourage such misleading content”.

The electoral war in Bihar is slowly turning into a tornado with its stakeholders adding up to the centripetal force. Earlier on Thursday, Tejashwi Yadav inducted Khesari Lal Yadav and his wife Chanda Devi in the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The actor’s entry into politics marks a significant crossover from Bhojpuri cinema to social activism. At the same time, he has launched a devotional YouTube channel, reflecting a personal and artistic shift toward spirituality.

The drama isn’t just one-sided, the ruling regime of NDA, which is taking the Mahagathbandhan head-on, too suffered a low blow. Actor Pawan Singh, who recently made his return to the NDA fold, found himself knee deep in tricky waters. After a huge drama earlier at his residence where his wife, Jyoti Singh went live on Instagram and accused the actor-politician of harassment and adultery.

He later came out to give clarification on Instagram. He shared a long note in Hindi where he spoke about the allegations levelled by his wife. He counter accused his wife of using him for political mileage.

The upcoming election in Bihar is for the 18th Legislative Assembly, and will be fought on 243 seats. The elections will be conducted in two phases: 6 November 2025 and 11 November 2025. The 1st phase covers 121 constituencies with the 2nd phase covering 122 constituencies. The election results for the Bihar assembly are scheduled to be declared on November 14, 2025, on the birth anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

--IANS

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