Anant Singh indicated he could form a party after his JD(U) expulsion.
He predicted JD(U) would win only 10–12 seats in the next election.
The party expelled him after he campaigned for a Jan Suraaj candidate.
Anant Singh has signalled plans to form his own party after his expulsion from the JD(U), predicting on Sunday that his former party would be reduced to “10-12 seats” in the next Bihar Assembly election.
The Mokama MLA, removed for six years on Saturday over alleged anti-party activities, said he had “no regrets”. He attacked the leaders behind the decision but maintained that his relationship with former chief minister Nitish Kumar remained intact.
“Now, they will be reduced to 10-12 seats... Why will I go anywhere? I will simply build my own party. The JD(U) is finished. Once they hold elections, everything will become clear,” he told reporters.
Campaign For Jan Suraaj Candidate Triggered Rift
The disciplinary action followed Singh’s decision to back Jan Suraaj Party candidate Anuj Singh in the Bihar Legislative Council elections against JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar. Singh had campaigned for Anuj and publicly vowed to defeat Kumar.
The JD(U) also sought Singh’s disqualification from the Assembly, asking the Speaker to act under the Constitution’s Tenth Schedule, commonly known as the anti-defection law.
His wife, former legislator Neelam Devi, was expelled for six years on similar allegations. According to reports, the expulsions followed Union minister and senior JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh’s meeting with Nitish Kumar in Patna on Saturday.
Anant Singh Alleges, 'Party No Longer Belongs To Nitish Kumar'
Singh directed his criticism at the current leadership, claiming its members had contributed little to building the organisation.
“The party belonged to Nitish ji. Now that he is no longer there (in an active role), what is left of the party? Who among those in the leadership — the ones who expelled me — has actually contributed anything?” he said.
He asserted that there was “no distance” between him and Nitish Kumar and claimed nobody would have acted against him had Kumar remained in control.
Singh’s prediction of an electoral collapse comes as the JD(U) holds 84 seats in the 243-member Bihar Assembly. Its ally, the BJP, is the largest party with 88 MLAs. The JD(U) also has 12 Lok Sabha members.
Latest Break In A History Of Shifting Alliances
For Singh, known locally as “Chhote Sarkar”, the expulsion marks another break with the party through which he first entered the Assembly.
He won Mokama as a JD(U) candidate in 2005 and 2010, but quit in September 2015 over Nitish Kumar’s alliance with the RJD. He retained the seat as an Independent that year, then joined the RJD before winning again in 2020.
His subsequent conviction in an arms case cost him his Assembly membership. Neelam Devi contested the resulting Mokama bypoll in 2022 on an RJD ticket and won. Earlier, she had unsuccessfully challenged Lalan Singh in Munger in the 2019 Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate.
Following his acquittal by the Patna High Court in August 2024, Anant Singh rejoined the JD(U) ahead of the November 2025 Assembly polls.
