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Who is ‘bahubali‘ Anand Mohan Singh, ex-MP and murder case convict freed today
Anand Mohan Singh was released days after the Bihar home department tweaked jail manual by deleting phrase relating to “murder of a government servant on duty”
Gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh on Thursday walked out of the Saharsa jail amid hue and cry from the opposition and other sections of the society. The former Lok Sabha MP, who is dubbed as ‘baahubali’, a term used to label people with muscle power in the Hindi heartland, received the benefit of a jail sentence remission order after the Bihar government amended the prison rules.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who attended the engagement ceremony of Singh's son in Patna, is facing severe flak from the opposition over the release of the don-turned-neta. Who is Anand Mohan Singh, convicted in the murder of a Dalit IAS officer G Krishnaiah, and why is his release being talked about in Bihar's politics ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election?
Who is Anand Mohan Singh?
Son of a freedom fighter, Anand Mohan Singh hails from North Bihar's Kosi region. He cut his political teeth in the Janata Dal in 1990 when he got elected to the Bihar assembly from Hamshihi. It was the year when the VP Singh government advocating the implementation of Mandal Commission report on reservation to backward classes had collapsed.
Chandrashekhar led a breakaway Samajwadi Janata Party faction and formed government with outside support from the Congress. Anand Mohan Singh, left the Janata Dal and joined the Chandrashekhar faction, becoming a leader of Rajputs as well as Brahmins. According to report, he is said to be running an underground militia which targeted those supporting OBC reservation.
The 1991 Lok Sabha elections were held after Chandrashekhar resigned as prime minister following Congress allegations of his government spying on Rajiv Gandhi. In Bihar, Anand Mohan entered the poll fray in Madhepura, said to be a Yadav bastion. The electoral contest witnessed violent clashes between the supporters of Anand Mohan and Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav. However, Sharad Yadav won the election and entered Lok Sabha.
Anand Mohan's rise coincided with the emergence of Lalu Prasad Yadav as the leader of Yadavs and backward classes. He had become the chief minister in 1990 after leading Janata Dal in the state.
Known for his strong anti-Lalu stand, Anand Mohan Singh formed the Bihar People's Party. In 1994, his wife Lovely Anand won a bypoll from Vaishali.
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G Krishnaiah murder
G Krishnaiah was a1985 batch Indian Administrative Officer (IAS) of Bihar cadre and hailed from Mahbubnagar in Telangana. He was serving as the district magistrate (DM) of Gopalganj in 1994. On December 5 that year, he was returning to Gopalganj when his car confronted a procession of which Mohan was a part. Krishnaiah was dragged out of his car and beaten to death.
The procession had been mourning the murder of Chhotan Shukla, who was a dreaded gangster and belonged to the Bhumihar community.
In 2007, Anand Mohan was awarded death sentence by a trial court, but the Patna high court converted it into life imprisonment. The leader challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court but got no relief and had been in jail since 2007. He was on parole to attend his son and MLA Chetan Anand's engagement when he was released.
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Bihar's tweaked jail rules explained
On April 24, the Bihar law department issued a notification for the release of Anand Mohan and 26 other prisoners. The notification quoted the Bihar state sentence remission council meeting which took place on April 20. It said that the decision was taken for the release of prisoners having served actual sentence of 14 years or sentence of 20 years with remission.
But here is the catch. The Bihar home department had tweaked the jail manual 2012, deleting the phrase relating to “murder of a government servant on duty”. It meant that Mohan, who was in jail for Krishnaiah's murder, would walk free.
Mahagathbandhan betting on don-turned-politician
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar dumped the BJP last year to reunite with Mahagathbandhan ally Rashtriya Janata Dal. His government's decision to release Anand Mohan is being seen as a bid to win Rajput votes. It is speculated that the don-turned-politician would join the RJD, helmed by his long-time rival Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party has been struggling to find a Rajput face following the deaths of Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Narendra Singh. Mohan's son Chetan Anand is an MLA from Lalu Prasad's party.
Whether Anand Mohan's release benefits the MGB in 2024 Lok Sabha polls or not, we will have to wait till next year.
