The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) fielded Anant Singh, currently lodged in Bihar’s Beur jail under an Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case, from the Mokama seat in Bihar Assembly elections. He won by a margin of over 35,000 votes.
He contested against JD(U)’s Rajiv Lochan Narayan Singh and LJP’s Suresh Singh Nishad.
Singh won from this seat as an independent candidate in the 2015 assembly election and was with the JD(U) earlier.
The MLA has over 25 cases registered against him since 1976, including eight murder cases. He was arrested in the UAPA case after weapons including AK-47 were found from his house last year.
RJD has cited popularity for fielding candidates with a criminal background. The party said these candidates are more politically active in their areas and have been working for the people’s welfare, that’s why the probability of their winning is higher, according to The New Indian Express.
RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, chief ministerial candidate of the opposition Grand Alliance, had once called Singh an “anti-social element”. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had got him arrested in a kidnap and murder case in 2015.
HuffPost India’s Pavan Dahat noted that “RJD giving a ticket to the man it once protested against indicates the tough fight it has ahead of it to unseat the JD(U)-BJP alliance in Bihar.”