Maithili Thakur

Maithili Thakur (born 25 July 2000) is an Indian playback singer trained in Indian classical music and folk music and the current Member of Legislative Assembly for the Alinagar constituency seat in Bihar. She has sung original songs, covers, and traditional folk music prominently in Hindi, Bengali, Maithili, Urdu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Tamil, English and more Indic languages.

Early life Thakur was born in Benipatti, Madhubani district, Bihar to a Maithil musician and music teacher working in Delhi Ramesh Thakur and Bharti Thakur. She is named after goddess Sita as well as her mothertongue. Maithili, along with her two brothers, Rishav and Ayachi were trained by their grandfather and father in Maithili Folk, Hindustani classical music, Harmonium and Tabla. Realising his daughter's potential around the age of 6, her father relocated themselves to Dwarka in New Delhi for better opportunities. At the age of 10, she started singing at jagrans and other musical functions.

Music career In 2011, Thakur appeared in Little Champs, a singing competition television series telecast in Zee TV. Four years later, she contested in Indian Idol Junior, telecast in Sony TV.

Rising stars In 2017, Thakur was a contestant in the season 1 of Rising Star, a television singing competition. Maithili was the first finalist of the show, singing Om Namah Shivaya which gained her direct entry into the final. She was runner up, losing out by just two votes. Following the show, her internet popularity rose significantly.

2019 onwards After a huge success from videos on Facebook and YouTube the trio has been performing at various National and International Events, Literature Fests. Maithili has been awarded Atal Mithila Samman by the Government of India. In 2019 Maithili and her two brothers, Rishav and Ayachi, were made the brand ambassadors of Madhubani by the Election Commission. Rishav is on the tabla and Ayachi is a singer and performs often on percussion as well.

Political career In 2025, several media outlets reported that Thakur was considering entering politics ahead of the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections. She met with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Vinod Tawde and Union Minister Nityanand Rai, prompting speculation about a possible candidature from her native constituency of Benipatti in Madhubani district.

Subsequently she stood for elections from Alinagar constituency seat in the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections and won the seat. Contesting on the BJP ticket, she defeated her nearest rival, Binod Mishra from the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) by around 11,700 votes. She was the youngest ever member of the 18th Bihar Assembly.

Awards and recognition

Maithili Thakur was awarded the Cultural Ambassador of the Year Award by the Prime Minister of India at the inaugural National Creators Award on 8 March 2024.