New Party Or Join BJP, What Next For ‘Chhote Sarkar’ Anant Singh?

The JD(U) on Saturday expelled Mokamah MLA and local strongman Anant Singh for alleged anti-party activities. In the recently concluded MLC elections in Bihar Singh had put his support behind Jan Suraaj Party’s candidate Anuj Singh, vowing to defeat the JD(U) candidate Neeraj Kumar.

In response the JD(U) expelled Singh and also recommended to the Bihar Legislative Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar that the Mokamah MLA’s membership of the Assembly be cancelled under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, popularly known as the anti-defection law.

According to media reports, the expulsion came after senior leader and union minister Rajv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh met Nitish Kumar at his residence in Patna.

Besides Singh, his wife Neelam Devi, a former MLA, was also expelled from the party for alleged anti-party activities.

What’s Ahead For Anant Singh

Speaking to reporters after his expulsion, Singh hinted at floating a new political outfit.

"I will simply build my own party... I have no regrets. Whatever action has been taken, it’s fine; I have no issues with it,” he told reporters.

Singh also pointed towards an alleged leadership vaccum within the party after Kumar leaving state politics to become a Rajya Sabha Member.

“The party belonged to Nitish Kumar. Now that Nitish Kumar is no longer there (in the active role), what is left of the party? Who among those in the leadership—the ones who expelled me—has actually contributed anything? Now, they will not even get 10 seats... Why will I go anywhere?” he said.

BJP, RJD, Or Smaller Parties?

The BJP and other small partners in the larger NDA alliance have largely termed it an internal matter and have been mostly favourable of the actions taken by the JD(U).

Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief and Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said that the party leadership has the authority to take disciplinary action against dissident members.

“The party leadership has the authority to initiate disciplinary action against anyone who acts against the party; that is precisely what has been done," he told reporters.

Similarly, former Bihar Deputy CM and BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha said that it was an internal matter of the JD(U) while also hinting at Singh’s chequered past.

“It is an internal matter of their party, and I have nothing to say about it. I have contested elections from Lakhisarai, where I have faced several most-wanted criminals, strongmen, contractors and middlemen opposing me. Yet, the people of the constituency have elected me. We respect all good people, and we always strive to maintain the dignity of relationships and uphold the spirit and principles of our alliance,” he told reporters.

With the BJP and its allies refusing to engage with Singh and largely supporting their alliance partner, it seems unlikely that the Mokamah MLA will find any place there.

The RJD has similarly referred to it as an internal matter of the JD(U) while taking a jab at the infighting between the party blaming the BJP for the unfolding events.

''Now, what JDU does, they clashed among themselves within JDU; whether they fought with Nitish, or with Lalan, or sometimes rumors come that Lalan and he are one, or that he fought with the party. Otherwise, this entire game is playing out at the behest of the BJP. That is their internal matter; what can we say about it?” RJD State President Mangani Lal Mandal told IANS.