Wives in the driving seat, Bihar’s bahubalis keep poll clout intact

Some strongmen in Bihar cannot contest the poll directly owing to rules that prohibit convicts jailed for over two years from contesting elections until six years after release

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with ex-MP Anand Mohan and former RJD leader Lovely Anand who joined the JDU party, in Patna, on March 18. | Photo Credit: PTI

Having weathered allegations, criminal cases and even long prison stints, Bihar’s bahubalis (strongmen) are back in action in Bihar’s politics. Like previous elections, their wives are in the fray, but voters clearly understand who’s calling the shots.

Lovely Anand, wife of strongman Anand Mohan Singh; Bima Bharti, wife of Awadhesh Mandal; and Anita Mahto, wife of Ashok Mahto, are better known as Mrs. Bahubalis. Their husbands hold sway in their respective constituencies and beyond but cannot contest the poll directly owing to rules that prohibit convicts jailed for over two years from contesting elections “until six years after release”. This is not too different from mukhiapatis (village head’s husband) in Bihar reigning supreme at village panchayats with their elected wives (mukhias) watching from the sidelines.

Recently, convict and dreaded strongman of Nawada, Lakhisarai and Sheikhpura areas during 1990s and early 2000s, Ashok Mahto, 55, married Ms. Anita Mahto, 46, in the inauspicious period of Kharwas, just a day before she was given the ticket to contest the Lok Sabha election by Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Ms. Anita Mahto will contest from the Munger seat against Janata Dal (United) national president and close associate of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh.

Ashok Mahto was released from jail in November last year after 17 years of imprisonment, and his hurried marriage just before the election reminded voters of a similar marriage in 2011, again in an inauspicious month. Bahubali Ajay Singh tied the knot with Kavita Singh ahead of the byelection to the Daraunda Assembly constituency necessitated by the demise of Ajay Singh’s mother Jagmato Devi. Ms. Kavita Singh, who ran on a JD(U) ticket and won, also emerged triumphant in the 2019 general election from Siwan but this time the party has overlooked her in favour of Vijaylakshmi Devi.

Munger goes to polls in phase four on May 13.

Similarly, RJD has fielded Ms. Bharti from Purnia seat. Wife of Awadhesh Mandal, a feared don in Purnia and Kosi areas of north Bihar, Ms. Bharti will battle JD(U) candidate and sitting MP Santosh Kushwaha. While Mandal faces over a dozen cases including murder and kidnapping, Ms. Bharti has been a five-time MLA from Rupauli under Purnia Lok Sabha constituency and also Minister in the State Cabinet.

“How can one forget the days when people of Purnia and Kosi shut their doors in fear at the mere mention of Awadhesh Mandal’s name?” recalled a local journalist preferring anonymity. He added that Mr. Mandal had headed the dreaded Faizan gang. Purnia goes to polls in the second phase on April 26.

On the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) front, JD(U) is fielding Ms. Lovely Anand, wife of strongman Anand Mohan Singh, from Sheohar Lok Sabha seat. Ms. Lovely Anand had been an MP (1994) and MLA twice. Her husband Singh, convicted for the murder of former Gopalganj District Magistrate G. Krishnaiah in December 1994, had been MP twice from Sheohar in 1996 and 1998.

After serving 16 years in jail, Anand, a Rajput strongman from Saharsha, was released from jail in April 2023 after the Nitish Kumar government, allegedly, tweaked the jail manual. Their elder son Chetan Anand is an RJD MLA from Sheohar Assembly seat but during the recent trust vote of the Nitish government, he had voted in favour of the JD(U) along with two other RJD legislators. Later, he and his parents expressed allegiance to the JD(U) leader and Chief Minister Kumar. Sheohar goes to poll in the sixth phase on May 25.