As Rajput candidate, will get support in Sheohar naturally: Lovely Anand
A year since the release of her husband Anand Mohan Singh from prison, Lovely Anand is in the electoral fray from the Sheohar seat on Janata Dal (United) ticket as a National Democratic Alliance candidate. Mr. Singh, who had been in jail for 16 years, was released when JD(U) supremo and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tweaked the State prison code to expedite his remission.
“It is the media which has given the term bahubali for my husband,” she told The Hindu before embarking on her electoral campaign on Friday. “Had my husband been born during the British period, he would have been a krantikari [revolutionary],” Ms. Anand, who had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2015 Assembly elections unsuccessfully from Sheohar, said. Ms. Anand said that her husband was not a “bahubali” (potentate) but a “kalambali” (penman).
Mr. Singh, a native of Saharsa district, was found guilty of inciting a mob that gunned down the then Gopalganj District Magistrate G. Krishnaiah in December 1994. Mr. Singh was condemned to death by the lower court in 2007. However, his sentence was later brought down to a life term in December 2008.
In April 2023, Mr. Singh was released from jail after 16 years of incarceration after the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar
government amended the prison manual 2012, Rule 481 (1)(a) by removing the clause pertaining to “murder of a public servant on duty”.
The State government’s action triggered a massive backlash from the Opposition. Mr. Krishnaiah’s widow had also challenged the Bihar government’s move in the Supreme Court, where the case is still pending.
This time, the seat fell into the JD(U) quota under the NDA seat-sharing arrangement, and Mr. Kumar extended a warm “spousal visa” to Ms. Anand. It is likely that Mr. Kumar has his eye on the Rajput and also the substantial Vaishya voter base in the area.
Ms. Anand’s opponent is Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Ritu Jaiswal, who hails from the Vaishya community and is likely to put up a strong challenge to Ms. Anand. “PM Narendra Modi is the biggest leader of the Vaishya community and Nitishji belongs to the Patel community. And since I am a Rajput, I will get their support naturally. So, where is the challenge?” she asks.
Visible discontent
A household in the Nayagaon village which was visited by Ms. Anand, expressed discontentment with her being “unapproachable and inaccessible”. Ms. Anand excused herself citing a “busy schedule” while promising to be more “accessible” in the future.