PATNA: Controversial Janata Dal (United) MLA and Mokama strongman, Anant Singh, on Monday announced his retirement from electoral politics, and said that it's time for his sons to contest the polls.
After casting his vote for the Rajya Sabha election, Singh, who reached the assembly from Beur Model Jail in Patna to cast his vote for the polls, said, “Since Nitish Kumar will no longer be in Bihar, I will also refrain from contesting elections.”
Singh has been put behind bars for his alleged involvement in the murder of Dularchand Yadav (a supporter of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party) ahead of the 2025 state assembly elections.
He has twin sons- Ankit Singh and Abhishek Singh.
It has to be seen how the JD (U) leader will launch them in the electoral politics. Before the 2025 polls, his wife Neelam Devi was elected as a legislator from Mokama.
When asked who would be the state's next Chief Minister, Singh replied that Nitish would decide who was going to hold the post after he demitted the office.
The MP-MLA Court had granted permission to Singh to cast his vote in the Rajya Sabha election.
He reached the assembly around 10 am under tight security and police surveillance, as he returned to the jail immediately after casting his vote.
Singh's single vote holds significant importance for the NDA in the Rajya Sabha election, as the alliance requires three additional votes to ensure the victory of its fifth candidate.
Anant Singh has represented the Mokama seat for six consecutive terms, winning for the first time in February 2005 and subsequently in October of the same year.
He won the seat in the assembly elections held in 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2025.
He contested assembly elections in 2005 on JD (U) ticket but won the 2015 election as an Independent candidate and the 2020 election as an RJD candidate. He fought the last assembly election on JD (U) ticket.
He was booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2019 after the seizure of an AK-47 rifle and a grenade from his ancestral house at Ladma village under Barh sub-division in Patna district.
In June 2022, he was convicted in connection with the recovery of an AK-47 rifle and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In 2024, the high court acquitted him in the Arms Act case. While he was disqualified as a legislator due to his conviction in 2022, his wife Neelam Devi won the by-election on RJD's ticket. In the last assembly election, Singh won the Mokama seat on JD (U) ticket.