Anand Mohan Singh (69), convicted for inciting a mob that lynched IAS officer G Krishnaiah in 1994 in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, walked out of Saharsa jail on Thursday morning.
Anand Mohan was jailed in 2007 after a court awarded him capital punishment for the officer’s murder who was posted as DM, Gopalganj, during the funeral procession of don-turned-politician Kaushalendra Shukla alias Chhotan Shukla, killed a day earlier. However, the high court later converted Anand’s death sentence into life imprisonment.
The ‘Sher-e-Bihar’, as Anand Mohan is popularly called by his supporters, is now silently watching developments in the state following his release, which would not have come about but for the tweaking of a clause in the Bihar Prison Manual 2012. On April 10, 2023 the clause which prohibited those serving sentences in connection with ‘murder of public servant on duty’ from getting remission was removed, paving the way for his release.
Rajputs constitute nearly 6-7% of the 20% upper castes vote share in Bihar. As such, they may play an important role in six Lok Sabha seats and about 25 assembly seats in the state. Singh enjoys immense clout among his caste men – upper caste Rajput – not only in Kosi from where he hails but also in Seemanchal and Mithilanchal.
Born on January 28, 1954, Anand belongs to a Tomar Rajput family and his ancestral village Pachgacchia village is in the Saharsa district of Bihar`s Kosi region. His grandfather Ram Bahadur Singh Tomar was a freedom fighter. He actively participated in the movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) at the age of 17. He was jailed twice during the movement.
The JP Movement went on to dethrone then PM Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai succeeded her. In Bihar, Anand Mohan tried to woo upper castes, especially Rajputs, by raising their issues. In 1980, he formed Samajwadi Kranti Sena to fight for the causes of the upper caste, especially his fellow caste men.
It was during that period that he earned the ‘Robinhood’ image. He indulged in committing crimes and was often seen riding a horse and displaying firearms. In 1983, he was sent to judicial custody for three months for being involved in criminal activities.
Anand had once tried to whip up the sentiments of upper caste people to counter Lalu who was increasing his influence in the state politics by deftly wooing backward classes during the 1990s. This was a time when caste politics and related violence were at their peak in the state.
He was first elected as MLA from Mahisi in Saharsa district on a Janata Dal ticket when Lalu Prasad became the CM of Bihar in 1990. He formed Bihar People’s Party (BPP) in 1993 to protest implementation of Mandal Commission report on reservation to people belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) during Prime Minister VP Singh’s tenure as PM.
In December 1994, he was booked for his role in the murder of G Krishnaiah who was then posted as DM of Gopalganj. In the 1995 assembly polls, he had fielded his party’s candidates in about 100 seats but failed to win a single seat.
In 1996, he was elected as MP from Rajput dominated Sheohar Lok Sabha seat in Bihar while being in jail. His wife Lovely Anand had been elected as Lok Sabha member from Vaishali in a bypoll held in 1994.
Anand later joined hands with Nitish when the latter formed Samata Party along with leaders like George Fernandes and others. In the 1998 Lok Sabha election, he retained the Sheohar seat but lost in the 1999 election.
In 2003, when Nitish formed Janata Dal (United), Anand became a part of it. In November 2005, Nitish became CM of Bihar for the first time. When Anand was convicted in Krishnaiah’s murder case in 2007 and awarded capital punishment, before the same was commuted to a life sentence, he became the first politician in independent India to be given the death penalty.