New Delhi: A murder followed by a dramatic midnight arrest appear to have done little to dent strongman Anant Singh’s electoral fortunes.
The JD(U) candidate from Mokama won by a margin of 28,206 votes over his nearest rival, marking his sixth consecutive win from the Assembly constituency in Bihar, data by the Election Commission showed.
He defeated RJD’s Veena Devi, wife of local strongman Suraj Bhan Singh — in a contest that reignited debate over the role of powerbrokers in Indian politics. Jan Suraaj Party’s Priyadarshi Piyush came in a distant third in the race.
The latest contest marks the third consecutive assembly election that Singh has contested from behind bars.
He was arrested on 2 November over allegations that he was present when Dular Chand Yadav, who was campaigning for a JSP candidate, was killed following a spat.
Singh was also jailed during the 2015 polls following the murder of a youngster, who belonged to the Yadav community, at a time when the ruling Janata Dal (United) was allied with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). In 2020, he again fought the election while in jail, after police recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from his ancestral home in Nadwan village.
The JD(U) leader is accused in over 50 cases.
Singh’s successful campaign this time owes much to Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, also known as Lalan Singh, who took charge of canvassing after his arrest.
The day after Singh was remanded to judicial custody, Lalan hit the streets in Mokama with a charged appeal to party workers. “Every person should contest the election as Anant Singh,” Lalan told party workers.
“When Anant Babu was out, my responsibilities were less, but now that he is in jail, my responsibilities have increased even more. From today, I have taken the command of Mokama into my own hands. I must say that there appears to be a conspiracy behind the arrest of Anant Singh. The truth will soon come out as the police are investigating the case, and people will come to know about the conspirators also,” he had said.
But Lalan’s campaign ran into its own controversy after he was heard saying that “some people needed to be stopped from coming out on voting day”. Patna Police consequently registered a case against him for violating the model code of conduct.
Anant Singh, also called “Chhote Sarkar”, had also campaigned for Lalan during last year’s Lok Sabha polls, when the minister faced a tough contest from Ashok Mahto in Munger. Singh was released on parole mid-election to settle a ‘land dispute’ but made clear once he was out that he intended to campaign for Lalan.
(Edited by Prerna Madan)
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