Once a fiery JP Movement leader and poet, Anand Mohan Singh became a symbol of Rajput assertion before his name got entwined with Bihar’s criminal-politician network.
Convicted for instigating the 1994 mob lynching of IAS officer G. Krishnaiah, he was sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment.
His early release in 2023, after the Nitish government amended jail rules, reignited debates on caste privilege and political impunity in Bihar politics.
Anand Mohan Singh’s story is one of the most dramatic political sagas of Bihar. He remains both a symbol and a symptom of what ails the state’s politics, where crime, charisma and caste intertwine seamlessly.
While he remains in jail, his son Chetan Anand, last in the news for allegedly harassing doctors at AIIMS Patna, is contesting the Bihar elections from the Nabinagar constituency in Aurangabad district. It goes to election on November 11.
Born in 1954 in Pachgachhia village of Saharsa district, Anand Mohan emerged from the social churn of post-Emergency Bihar as a fiery student leader and poet with socialist leanings. A product of the JP Movement, he was drawn to Lohiaite politics and came to be regarded as a representative of upper-caste Rajput assertion in north Bihar.
Known for his powerful oratory and literary flair, he initially commanded respect for his poetic speeches and his ability to mobilise young people around issues of dignity and self-respect for Rajputs. Anand Mohan founded the Samajwadi Krantikari Sena, which later evolved into the Bihar People’s Party (BPP) in the 1990s, an era when caste-based militancy and muscle politics defined Bihar’s political landscape.
However, his career soon became inseparable from Bihar’s criminal-political nexus. His name began to surface in cases related to extortion and violent political rivalries. The defining moment came in 1994, when G. Krishnaiah, a Dalit IAS officer serving as the District Magistrate of Gopalganj, was lynched by a mob reportedly instigated by Anand Mohan. The incident occurred when the officer’s car was intercepted by a funeral procession for a slain gangster-politician associated with Anand Mohan’s outfit.
Eyewitnesses and subsequent investigations revealed that Anand Mohan incited the crowd which dragged Krishnaiah out of his car and beat him to death — a crime that shocked the nation and symbolised Bihar’s descent into lawlessness.
In 2007, Anand Mohan was convicted by a special court and sentenced to death, a punishment later commuted to life imprisonment by the Patna High Court. His wife, Lovely Anand, an MP from Sheohar, and his son, Chetan Anand, have continued to play active roles in politics, ensuring the family’s enduring influence in north Bihar.
Over the years, Anand Mohan’s conviction became a rallying point for Rajput leaders, who viewed his imprisonment as political victimisation. In 2023, the Bihar government’s controversial decision to release him early from prison by amending the jail manual reignited debates about caste privilege, political impunity and the ethics of rehabilitation.
