NEW DELHI: The Bihar elections witnessed numerous family members and even bahubalis (strongmen) themselves contesting, but the results, dashed the hopes of many of them who were aspiring to enter the House as people’s representatives and lawmakers.
The RJD had fielded the son of former Siwan MP Md Shahabuddin, Osama Shahab, from the Raghunathpur Assembly seat against JDU’s Vikash Kumar Singh. He won the seat by 9,248 votes, defeating the JDU candidate. Similarly, another bahubali, Anant Singh — widely referred to by his supporters as “Çhhote Sarkar” — also contested from the Mokama seat on a JDU ticket and won, defeating the RJD candidate Veena Devi, who is the wife of another stalwart, Suraj Bhan Singh.
The RJD also fielded Shivani Shukla, daughter of jailed Munna Shukla and a UK-educated law graduate, from the Lalganj Assembly seat. After a neck-and-neck contest against BJP MLA Sanjay K Singh, Shukla lost the election. Rital Lal Yadav, another bahubali contesting on an RJD ticket from the Danapur seat, lost to BJP candidate Ram Kripal Yadav by a margin of 29,000 votes. Hulas Pandey -the LJP candidate and bahubali, also lost from Brahampur.
According to rough data, 15 candidates who were either bahubalis or members of their families contested. Of these, eight were fielded by the NDA and seven by the Mahagathbandhan. Amrendra Singh, another bahubali candidate, won the Kuchaikote seat on a JDU ticket, while Anita Devi—the wife of strongman Ashok Mahto—also won the Warisaliganj seat. Manoranjan Singh won the Ekma Assembly seat on a JD(U) ticket. Chetna Anand, son of Anand Mohan, won Nabinagar on a JD(U) ticket.