Anant Singh claims win for Jan Suraaj pick in Patna MLC poll, deepening rift with JD(U)

Mokama MLA Anant Singh has turned a routine Legislative Council election in Bihar into an open test of loyalty inside the Janata Dal (United). Days after voting ended in the Patna Graduates’ constituency, the strongman legislator has declared that the candidate he backed, rather than his own party’s nominee, has already won.

Singh, a JD(U) member, campaigned for Jan Suraaj Party candidate Anuj Kumar Singh against Neeraj Kumar, the JD(U)’s official pick and a close aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Votes will be counted on Tuesday, 27 October.

Victory claim before the count

Speaking on Saturday, 24 October, Anant Singh said preparations, including the distribution of sweets, were under way to celebrate a win, according to an IANS report carried by The Hawk. He added that formal procedures would run their course and that voters would have the final word.

He also took a sarcastic dig at Neeraj Kumar and said the party was free to take whatever disciplinary step it wanted, adding that he was not worried about the consequences.

Neeraj Kumar, a former minister seeking a fourth straight term in the Council, hit back without naming anyone. He spoke against the criminalisation of politics and the influence of musclemen, remarks widely read as aimed at Singh. He warned that party workers who had worked against him would face consequences sooner or later, saying the timing was unclear but the outcome was “100 per cent certain”.

No disciplinary action against Anant Singh had been reported as of Sunday.

Low turnout, clashes in Mokama

Polling for eight Council seats, four graduates’ and four teachers’ constituencies, was held on Friday, 23 October. According to PTI figures published by ThePrint, turnout as of the 4 pm closing time stood at 43.87 per cent in the graduates’ seats and 74.55 per cent in the teachers’ seats. Around 5.32 lakh voters were eligible and 150 candidates were in the fray.

Patna Graduates’ recorded 36.19 per cent, the lowest among the four graduates’ seats, despite the high-profile feud. Supporters of the two camps clashed in Mokama, and police detained several people. ETV Bharat reported that Singh’s close aide Chhotu Singh was detained in Patna for allegedly disturbing law and order. Singh responded that such tactics would not work.

Singh has accused Neeraj Kumar of working against him for a decade and of siding with his opponents in the November 2025 Assembly election. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, meanwhile, accused the ruling NDA of misusing the administration to enable impersonation and “vote theft”, and claimed his party would win all eight seats.

The ‘nine murders’ row

The feud had already drawn national attention on Friday, 16 October, when Singh told reporters in Patna that he had got nine people killed while standing by Nitish Kumar in the latter’s early years, as reported by The Tribune and Free Press Journal, citing ANI and IANS respectively.

Singh later said his words had been misrepresented. He claimed he meant that nine of his associates were killed during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s tenure because he had supported Nitish Kumar.

JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad dismissed the remark as not worth the party’s attention and pointed to the Chief Minister’s long, clean public record. Working president Sanjay Kumar Jha noted the clarification and said the party was confident of winning in Patna. RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav called the original statement an admission and alleged that the ruling side had relied on criminal elements to hold power.

Neither report mentioned any police complaint over the remark.

The count on 27 October will now show whether Singh’s influence in the Mokama belt can carry a graduates’ contest against his own party’s official candidate, and whether the JD(U) moves from warnings to action.

Sources

• The Hawk (IANS): Neeraj Kumar warns JD (U) detractors as Anant Singh claims victory in Patna Graduate MLC poll
• ThePrint (PTI): Bihar MLC polls: Turnout in teachers seats tops graduates; Tejashwi says ‘vote theft’ won’t work
• ETV Bharat: Bihar MLC Polls Witness 74.55 Percent Voter Turnout For Teachers’ Seats And 43.87 Percent For Graduates’ Seats
• The Tribune: ‘Masterminded 9 murders for Nitish’, claims JDU’s Anant Singh; later takes U-turn, blames Lalu
• Free Press Journal: ‘Got 9 People Murdered’ Anant Singh’s Remark Sparks Row In Bihar, JD(U) MLA Later Clarifies Statement