Kanti Singh

Former Minister of State for Coal Kanti Singh, 47, has won the Ara seat on a RJD ticket.

Former Minister of State for Coal Kanti Singh, 47,  has won the Ara seat on a RJD ticket. Ara was not new to her as she was elected to the state assembly from Piro.

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RJD men say she is a diehard supporter of his political mentor Laloo Prasad Yadav. RJD men who were involved in the anti-Emergency movement in Bihar in the mid 70s say they never saw Kanti Singh on the scene, but we have to take Laloo Yadav's word for it that Singh came into politics at that time. 

No one remembers Kanti as displaying any extraordinary talent for mobilisation, leadership or politics. But Laloo Yadav must have detected some spark. For in 1992, he thought she was politically mature enough to be appointed party general secretary. Amid unspoken hostility, Kanti Singh was given charge and was later made to contest the assembly election.

In 1996, Laloo felt she could become a Member of Parliament. She was given the Bikramganj seat in west Bihar to contest from and she defeated the JD (U) heavyweight Vashisht Narayan Singh  from  Bikramganj seat.