PATNA: Bihar’s Mokama could be rich in content for the Bollywood stuff and poor in its existential survival. It possesses a vast swathe of ‘diara’ area -- the fertile Gangetic riverine belt that thrives on lentil harvest and fisheries -- to its south, around 90km from the state capital Patna.
Another claim to its fame is the town’s location: it lies sandwiched between north and south Bihar. Mokama is also known for Chhote Sarkar, the RJD MLA Anant Singh. Anant stands disqualified from the Assembly after his conviction in a case related to the recovery of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, from his residence. That has led to the Mokama by-election due November 3. Possession of firearms is not peculiar to Mokama as land disputes are common in the area. Almost all houses are said to stock some weapon or the other.
In the run-up to the by-election, many in Mokama see it in rewind to the year 2000 as they discuss the candidates in the November 3 fray. Anant Singh’s wife Neelam Devi is pitted against Sonam Devi, the wife of another muscleman Lalan Singh. While Neelam is contesting on the RJD ticket, Sonam is the BJP candidate. Both filed their papers on Friday and declared themselves a winner – ‘defeat’ is a dirty word in Mokama’s history.
Anant Singh has not forgotten the 2000 assembly election from Mokama. His elder brother and the then minister in the RJD government Dilip Singh was defeated by independent Surajbhan Singh, another muscleman who fought the polls sitting behind bars.
Anant too has won the seat once as an independent, twice as a JD-U candidate and once on the RJD symbol in 2020. Anant has not forgiven Sanjay Singh, who had allegedly colluded with his brother’s ‘enemies’ to defeat him in 2000 – sitting in jail.
Sanjay Singh shifted to Deoghar in Jharkhand later but still wields influence in the Mokama assembly constituency. It is to be seen which party Sanjay support this time when the RJD’s Neelam Devi has an advantage. She also enjoys the support of other allies of the grand alliance, including JD (U), Congress, HAM and left parties.
Although JD-U chief and MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and the party’s chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar nurse old rivalry with Anant Singh, it would be interesting to see how much support Neelam gets from them in the election.
On the other hand, BJP’s Sonam Devi is likely to get the support of Surajbhan Singh, who is also a former MP and belongs to the LJP faction of Union minister Pashupati Nath Paras, known as Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP). Surajbhan’s younger brother Chandan Singh is MP from Nawada.
Convicted in fraud case, RJD MLA loses Bihar House membership
RJD received a major jolt on Friday when party’s MLA Anil Kumar Sahni was disqualified from Bihar legislative assembly following his conviction and subsequent award of three years’ imprisonment in a fraud case when he was a member of Rajya Sabha. Sahani is second RJD legislator to lose membership of assembly in last six months. Earlier, RJD MLA from Mokama Anant Singh was disqualified after being convicted in an Arms Act case and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for 10 years. According to a notification issued by Bihar Vidhan Sabha secretary Pawan Kumar Pandey, “Sahni has been disqualified with effect from date of conviction and sentence.” Sahni was held guilty in the case by the court of Rouse Avenue on August 19 this year and awarded three years imprisonment two days later.