A parole makes Munger Lok Sabha election a fight of bahubalis

New Delhi,UPDATED: May 6, 2024 15:59 IST

When bahubali (strongman) Anant Singh, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader, was convicted in June 2022 in an Arms Act case and sentenced to 10 years in prison, many saw it as an end to his political career.

Anant Singh, the sitting MLA from Mokama was put behind bars under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in 2019. An AK-47 rifle covered in carbon to avoid detection, two hand grenades and live cartridges were found at his ancestral home.

That was when people thought all his political relevance was gone.

Nearly two years after he was jailed, the 'Chhote Sarkar' of Mokama walked out of a Patna prison on Sunday (May 5), a week ahead of May 13, when Munger votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The release of Anant Singh, made Munger a battleground seat in Bihar, where the bahubali sought votes for JD(U) candidate Ranjan Singh, alias Lalan Singh. The vote-seeking saw a show of strength as dozens of vehicles were part of Anant Singh's cavalcade.

Lalan Singh is a JD(U) veteran and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's aide, who was the party president between 2019 and 2023.

Munger is a two-cornered fight between the NDA's JD(U) and the INDIA bloc's RJD.

Pitched against the JD(U), the RJD's Munger candidate, Anita Mahto, isn't the one making it a Bahubali vs Bahubali contest, but her husband Ashok Mahto is.

OUT OF JAIL IN STYLE, ANANT SINGH RALLIES FOR JD(U)

In 2019, Anant Singh's arrest was deemed by many as the end of his political journey. However, he continues to wield influence over Mokama's voters in Bihar. The Bihar Home Department granting him parole, citing "resolution of ancestral land" issues, attests to his enduring sway.

Anant Singh walked out of Beur jail on Sunday dressed up in his customary all-white outfit with a pair of black sunglasses. He was welcomed with flower petals, marigold garlands and drum beats by his supporters.

Immediately after his release, the five-time Mokama MLA hopped onto an ambulance and hit the campaign track for Lalan Singh, JD(U)'s Munger candidate.

Following the babubali, was a convoy of around 100 SUVs.

"I haven't even heard his (Ashok Mahto) name," said Anant Singh after he was asked about Ashok Mahto's wife in the fray.

Asked if Munger was going to be a tough fight, Anant Singh replied, "Lalan Singh is winning by a huge margin of five lakh votes. There is no fight."

Both Anant Singh and Lalan Singh are Bhumihar.

Interestingly, Neelam Devi, the wife of bahubali Anant Singh was a sitting RJD MLA, until she pledged her allegiance to the JDU on the day of the Bihar trust vote after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar switched sides to rejoin NDA to form a government in the state.

Neelam Devi is an MLA from Mokama, her husband Anant Singh's former seat.

As many as 38 criminal cases, including seven murders, 11 attempt-to-murder and a few cases of kidnapping are lodged against Anant Singh, according to his 2020 poll affidavit.

The Munger Lok Sabha seat in central Bihar along the Ganga river comprises of low-lying assembly segments of Patna, Munger and Lakhisarai districts.

CONVICTED CRIMINAL ASHOK MAHTO SEEKS VOTES FOR WIFE

The contest in Munger has thus taken an interesting turn with the release of Anant Singh, the gangster-politician, on a 15-day parole, making it an indirect fight between bahubalis -- Anant Singh and Anita Devi Mahto's husband, Ashok Mahto, the dreaded history-sheeter of Nawada-Shekhpura belt.

Ashok Mahto, the former ganglord from the kurmi community, is best remembered for the 2001 Nawada jailbreak where he escaped along with four others after killing a guard.

He made his political ambitions clear after his release in 2023.

The two political families, with a decades-long history of criminal activities and convictions are in the fight, although indirectly.

Ashok Mahto, who made the headlines with the portrayal of gang-politics in Bihar in the Netflix web series 'Khakee: The Bihar Chapter', and his hurried marriage to Anita Devi, is on ground too.

The convicted bahubali is mobilising support for his wife, Anita Devi Mahto, after he was released from jail last year after 17 years of imprisonment.

Eyebrows were raised over his hurried marriage to Anita Devi in Kharmas (the inauspicious month) just before the election. The nuptial knot was seen as more of a pre-poll alliance.

Days after 58-year-old bahubali Ashok Mahto tied the knots with Anita Devi, she was given an RJD ticket from Munger against Lalan Singh.

Anita Devi Mahto was seen as a proxy candidate for Ashok Mahto, who himself could not contest the election due to rules that bar convicts jailed for over two years from contesting elections for six years after their release.

Reacting to Anant Singh's statement of him not knowing Ashok Mahto, he said, "Who came out and who did not, why should I bother, I am doing my job."

"He (Anant Singh) is known to make fake claims, let him. There is no challenge," added Mahto on Monday, with the 'green RJD gamcha' around his neck, before driving off for the election campaign.

What makes the Munger battle even more interesting is the fact that Lalan Singh is a Bhumihar taking on Anita Devi, who is a Kurmi. JD(U)'s core voters are Kurmis and Koyris.

As the poll trail progresses, the fate of Munger MP Lalan Singh hangs in the balance. While the release of bahubali Anant Singh may offer some help, Ashok Mahto's campaign for his wife, an RJD candidate, raises uncertainties for Singh, who is facing tough questions on the ground.

Anyway, Munger and Lalan Singh's fate is held by the two bahubalis.