Mokama will witness one of this Bihar assembly election's hottest battles as Janata Dal-United candidate Anant Singh takes on the Rashtriya Janata Dal's Veena Devi, whose husband Surajbhan Singh, like her JD-U rival, is considered one of the state's tough guys or as they say in these parts, a Bahubali.
Bahubalis contesting elections is not a new phenomenon in Bihar; what is new is that two rival Bahubalis will challenge each other in their traditional bastion, Mokama, largely a rural constituency on the banks of the Ganga.
Both Anant Singh and Surajbhan Singh belong to the powerful landed Bhumihar upper caste and have served prison time for involvement in serious criminal cases.
Anant Singh, a former MLA, known as Chote Sarkar, filed his nomination early this week accompanied by scores of expensive SUVs, horses, elephants and camels.
He won the Mokama seat from jail in the 2020 assembly polls as an RJD candidate. In 2022, when he was convicted and disqualified as an MLA, his wife Neelam Devi won the by-poll as an RJD candidate.
In 2024, during the trust vote in the assembly after Nitish Kumar abandoned the Mahagathbandan and joined the National Democratic Alliance, Neelam Devi voted with the NDA and violated the RJD line.
After Anant Singh was acquitted by the Patna high court recently, he decided to contest the 2025 election on a JD-U ticket.
Senior JD-U leader and party chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar expressed surprise that Anant Singh was given a ticket to contest the election from Mokama.
"I failed to understand how he (Anant Singh) got a party ticket when he is not even a member of the party," Neeraj Kumar told this correspondent.
"I am against such elements contesting polls on a JD-U ticket, there should not be any space for them," Neeraj Kumar, a former minister who is considered close to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said.
"I will never compromise on this and will oppose it," Neeraj Kumar, a native of Mokama who also belongs to the Bhumihar caste, added.
"There is no fight for Anant Singh in Mokama, he is a clear winner," declared a senior JD-U leader who is close to Anant Singh, adding that Anant Singh's candidature enjoys Nitish Kumar's approval.
"Nitish Kumar has met Anant Singh twice in the last three months and he gave the green signal that Anant Singh will contest the polls," this JD-U leader claimed.
According to his electoral affidavit, Anant Singh faces 28 criminal cases.
Surajbhan Singh quit the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party -- headed by Pashupati Kumar Paras, the late Ram Vilas Paswan's younger brother -- on Wednesday, October 15, night and joined the RJD along with his wife Veena Devi on Thursday, October 16.
Hours after the couple joined the RJD, party supremo Lalu Yadav gave Veena Devi the ticket to contest the polls from Mokama.
Like Anant Singh, Surajbhan Singh has reportedly been named in serious criminal cases.
"Veena Devi will defeat Anant Singh," RJD leader Mritunjay Tiwari said.
Surajbhan Singh, a trouble-shooter for Ram Vilas Paswan, won his first assembly election in 2000 as an Independent candidate from Mokama, defeating Dilip Singh, Anant Singh's elder brother. He later won the Lok Sabha poll from the now abolished Balia seat in 2004.
Surajbhan Singh turned his focus from politics to business over 15 years ago and reportedly runs different businesses in the country and abroad.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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