Bollywood actor on Thursday refuted the reports of his possible leap into politics by contesting the next Lok Sabha elections from Bihar’s West Champaran constituency. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the actor discredited the report. “Achcha ye bataiye ye baat kisne bola ya kal raat Sapna aaya? Boliye boliye!” (Did someone inform you, or did you dream about it last night?) he said.

Bajpayee had earlier clarified his stance regarding joining politics and ensured that the “question of him joining politics does not arise at all.” He recalled meeting Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in 2020 and his son Bihar’s deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, which sparked speculations of him joining politics. “I am 200% sure I won’t do that. The question of joining politics does not arise at all,” he said in an earlier interview.

“I am an actor and will remain an actor only… How does the question of joining politics arise?” he added.

Bajpayee hails from Belwa village in Bihar’s West Champaran district. The Lok Sabha seat there is currently held by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sanjay Jaiswal. He has been winning from this seat since 2009, with a growing vote share in each consecutive election. In 2009, the party secured 38.56% of votes, which went up to 43% in 2014 and nearly 60% in 2019.