Janata Dal United (JDU) MLA Anant Kumar Singh has triggered a major political controversy in Bihar after claiming to have “masterminded the murders of nine people for former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar”, with the party distancing itself from his remarks.
Anant Singh, who has been upset with the party for fielding his political rival Neeraj Kumar in the upcoming legislative council polls, made the claim while lashing out at his adversary.
“Nitish Kumar and I go back a long way. To help him, I got nine people murdered. Reacting to this, the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) hit out at the former Chief Minister, alleging that Singh’s remark amounted to an admission of political crimes. “Anant Singh has effectively confessed to nine murders, murders that occurred while Nitish Kumar was Chief Minister, and, by implication, for the sake of Nitish Kumar. Who were these notorious gang members? The type of statement that we have come across deserves no cognisance from the party and is unlikely to be taken seriously by the public. “I have responded to Neeraj Kumar, detailing the sacrifices I have made. During the Lalu Yadav government, nine of my associates were killed, and I myself was shot. The political row comes amid an active election season in the state.
Even if Anant Singh later retracted or altered his statement, likely due to pressure from his party at both the central and state levels, does it not remain a fact that Nitish Kumar built his power in Bihar by aligning himself with notorious criminal gangs from across the state – whether from Motihari, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, or the Mokama region? Because we aligned ourselves with Nitish Kumar that Lalu Yadav had them killed,” he said, it was. The biennial elections for eight seats of the Bihar Legislative Council will be held on October 23, and the counting of votes will be done on October 27, according to the Election Commission.
I stood by him in times when he was struggling to find a toehold,” he said. They were all with him,” party leader Shakti Singh Yadav said. Without naming Singh, the JDU leader said, “Nitish Kumar has stood out for an untainted record, with no blemishes of hobnobbing with criminals and involvement in violence or any type of negativity.
