Patna
For the first time, the coming assembly elections in Bihar will be contested in the absence of Bahubalis as majority of the the outlaws are in jail. Also, Lalu Prasad Yadav, RJD president, is serving a seven- year sentence in Ranchi jail following his conviction in the Rs 900-crore fodder scam. Bihar may miss its musclemen as candidates following the strict regulations put by the Election Commission directing the candidates with criminal antecedents to display their criminal cases thrice in the local newspapers prior to the date of polling. Till now, the details of the criminal cases were shown only in the affidavits filed by the candidates before the returning officers.
Mohammad Shahbuddin, the former MP and MLA from Siwan, is now lodged in Tihar jail. He used to influence the electorate through terror even when he was in Bhagalpur jail. Another Babubali leader, Anand Mohan Singh, who was also an MP, is in Saharasa jail serving a life sentence awarded in the murder case of district magistrate of Gopalganj. His wife, Lovely, was also convicted in the murder case by the district sessions judge, but later acquitted by the High Court.
Anant Singh, the Chhote Sarkar in Janata Dal, is in Bhagalpur jail in murder and loot cases. He was dubbed a terror in the Momakam-Barh belt. In 2015, when Nitish Kumar denied him nomination, he successfully contested as an independent.
Suraj Bhan and Rama Singh, once were known as Bahubalis, are now in LJP. Since there is a ban on Suraj Bhan on contesting poll, he had fielded his wife and later his nephew as LJP candidates in the Lok Sabha election. Both were elected.
Sunil Pandey, the former JDU MLA who is also disqualified to contest the election, is famous in Shahabad belt for his anti-social activities. He fielded his wife in the 2015 election as LJP candidate, but she lost to the CPI(ML) candidate.
Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who was an MP, was jailed for murder of a CPM MLA, Ajit Sarkar. He too was lodged in Tihar. Now, he has floated his own Jan Adhikar Party and unsuccessfully contested the 2019 LS poll. In the 2015 assembly poll, of 243 MLAs, 142 had criminal cases. RJD with 46 topped the list. RJD with 80 MLAs had formed govt with JD(U).
