Bahubalis succeed in getting tickets for wives

PATNA: Bahubalis (strongmen) in Bihar enjoy power by proxy by getting nominations for their wives and kin from the political parties to contest elections.
This Lok Sabha election is no different. The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) on Friday announced the candidature of three women whose husbands are dons of yesteryears and they have either been debarred from contesting elections after conviction or denied ticket due to their criminal antecedents.
While Congress declared Neelam Devi and sitting MP Ranjeet Ranjan from Munger and Supaul respectively, RJD announced Hena Shahab as its candidate from Siwan.Neelam is wife of Mokama don-turned politician Anant Singh while Hena is the hubby of former Siwan MP and jailed don Mohammad Shahabuddin. Ranjeet Ranjan is the better half of Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, also a bahubali.
Neelam will face Rajiv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh of JD(U). Her Facebook account reads, “Anant ka bharosha, Neelam ka saath, Munger ka bhagya, aapke haath.” Anant, a three-term MLA from Mokama in Patna district, chose his wife to contest as the Congress leadership had some reservations over his don’s perception, sources said.
Hena has been pitted against Kavita Singh of JD(U). Kavita’s husband Ajay Singh is also a notorious gangster of north Bihar. Kavita, now an MLA from Daraundha in Siwan district, had married Ajay during ‘pitrapaksh’ (inauspicious month) in 2011 and got ticket to contest the byelection soon after. The seat had fallen vacant after the death of Ajay’s mother Jagmato Devi. Ajay is considered a strong rival of Mohammad Shahabuddin, who is serving jail term in Tihar (Delhi).
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has given ticket to another don-turned-politician Suraj Bhan Singh’s younger brother Chandan Kumar from Nawada against Veena Devi, the wife of jailed former RJD MLA Rajballabh Prasad Yadav. Yadav was recently convicted in a minor girl’s rape case.
Ranjeet is seeking re-election from Supaul on Congress ticket. Her husband Pappu was accused in former MLA Ajit Sarkar’s murder case in Purnia on June 14, 1998. But he was later acquitted by the court.
Pappu’s rivalry with another don-turned politician Anand Mohan is an open secret in Seemanchal. Pappu, who won in 2014 from Madhepura on RJD ticket, is also seeking re-election. He has filed his nomination papers from Madhepura as an independent candidate.
Former Vaishali MP Lovely Anand, whose husband Anand Mohan is in jail in Gopalganj DM G Krishnaiya murder case, is keen on contesting from Sheohar. The Grand Alliance has not yet announced its nominee from this seat. She had recently joined Congress on the assurance of getting party ticket from Sheohar. Anand Mohan had warned the Grand Alliance that it would have to pay a heavy price if Lovely was denied ticket.
Rama Devi, wife of former minister Brij Behari Prasad, is the sitting BJP MP from Sheohar. Brij Behari was gunned down at the IGIMS (Patna) on June 13, 1998. He was known for his muscle power in north Bihar.
Veena Devi, an LJP candidate from Vaishali, is the wife of JD(U) MLC Dinesh Singh. Singh faces many cases related to land grabbing.
The dons have changed their strategy with the passage of time. “Two decades ago, they contested elections themselves. Now, they want to rule by proxy for obvious reasons,” said a politician.