Anant Singh Backs Jan Suraaj In Patna MLC Poll — An Old Mokama Rivalry Resurfaces

The slogans were for Nitish Kumar and Lalan Singh, but the campaign was for a rival party’s candidate. When Mokama MLA Anant Singh accompanied Jan Suraaj’s Anuj Singh to file his nomination on Thursday, his supporters praised JD(U)’s leaders even as he sought the defeat of its official nominee, Neeraj Kumar.

That departure from the party line has put the Patna Graduates constituency at the centre of Bihar’s October 23 Legislative Council elections. Neeraj Kumar, JD(U)’s chief spokesperson, is seeking a fourth consecutive term. Anant Singh, his fellow party legislator and longstanding rival, is working against him.

Anant Singh has made his reasons explicit: Neeraj Kumar opposed him in the past, and he now intends to return the favour. JD(U)’s senior leadership has so far avoided direct intervention, giving Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor an opening to challenge the party.

Why Anant Singh Opposing Neeraj Kumar

Anant Singh accompanied Anuj Singh during the filing of nomination papers and took out a procession supporting the Jan Suraaj nominee. He has also publicly stated his intention to ensure Kumar’s defeat.

Asked about his position, Anant Singh told reporters: “I do not know what the party line is in this matter. The fact remains that he (Neeraj Kumar) has opposed me on so many occasions. I must pay him back in the same coin.”

The procession included supporters chanting slogans for JD(U) president Nitish Kumar and Union minister Rajeev Ranjan Singh, popularly known as Lalan Singh.

The Rivalry

Both Anant Singh and Neeraj kumar are from Mokama. Their political differences predate their association within JD(U), with the 2015 Assembly election marking a direct contest between them.

Singh fought that election as an Independent after severing ties with JD(U). The party fielded Neeraj against him, but Anant retained the Assembly seat by a comfortable margin.

Neeraj Kumar had also criticised Singh, who has faced several criminal cases. The Mokama MLA’s latest comments link his campaign against Kumar to that history of opposition.

For Kumar, this makes the current election different from his earlier contests. He won the Patna Graduates seat in 2008, 2014 and 2020 with little difficulty. This time, a legislator from his own party is mobilising support for a challenger.

Why Has JD(U) Not Intervened?

The party has so far stopped short of disciplinary action against Anant Singh despite his open campaign for a rival nominee.

Lalan Singh declined to intervene directly when asked about the dispute.

“We heard what our national working president said. But Anant has his own concerns. It is not for me to intervene in such matters,” he told reporters.

Opportunity For Prashant Kishor

The personal fued has come as an opportunity for Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor to increase his newly-fromed party's presence in Bihar. Kishor has challenged Kumar to obtain a public endorsement from Nitish Kumar, offering to withdraw Jan Suraaj’s candidate if such a message is issued.

“If Neeraj Kumar gets Nitish Kumar to issue an authentic video message supporting his candidature, we will withdraw our candidate from the Patna Graduates seat,” Kishor said. He specified that the video should not be AI-generated.

Alongside that challenge, Kishor has made education the centrepiece of his campaign and promised job guarantees. His employment pitch follows the Bankipur campaign, where he promised to facilitate at least 10,000 private-sector jobs over five years.

Anant’s backing has added another element to that campaign: support from a JD(U) legislator against the party’s own nominee.

Who Else Could Benefit?

The RJD has fielded Dilip Kumar, who contested the previous election as a Congress candidate. It expects the JD(U) dispute to work in his favour.

“The internal JD(U) battle is creating confusion among voters and will definitely help our candidate. It also tells a lot about the internal problems within the NDA and JD(U),” RJD national spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta said.

The Patna Graduates constituency covers parts of Patna, Nalanda and Nawada and has around 80,000 registered graduate voters. It is one of eight Council seats voting on October 23.

Across the eight seats, 164 candidates are contesting, with results scheduled for October 27. In Patna Graduates, the contest will test whether Neeraj can retain his seat while a fellow JD(U) MLA campaigns to unseat him.