Two roadshows held on Monday in and around Patna one in Danapur and another in Mokama, nearly 85 kilometres apart have laid bare the deep contradictions and hypocrisy of Bihar’s politics
Bihar Election 2025, Two roadshows held By NDA on Monday in and around Patna
Two roadshows held on Monday in and around Patna—one in Danapur and another in Mokama, nearly 85 kilometres apart—have laid bare the deep contradictions and hypocrisy of Bihar’s politics, as both the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Grand Alliance rallied behind candidates facing serious criminal allegations despite tall public commitments to clean governance.
Anant Kumar Singh (often listed as “Anant Singh”) was the centrepiece of the 30-kilometre NDA roadshow in Mokama, led by Union Minister and JD(U) leader Lallan Singh and BJP Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, who is also being projected as one of the NDA’s chief ministerial aspirants. Singh, a criminal-turned-politician, has long been a dominant figure in the region. His election affidavit lists 38 ongoing criminal cases, including seven murders, 11 attempted murders, and four kidnappings. He was also convicted in a case involving illegal possession of an AK-47 rifle, hand grenades, and cartridges, for which he was sentenced to ten years in prison.
Singh was arrested last week for his alleged role in the death of another criminal-turned-politician, Dular Chand Yadav, during a political event.
The high-energy roadshow saw both Lallan Singh and Samrat Chaudhary standing atop an open jeep, waving to supporters lining the route. Crowds gathered across villages and market areas as the convoy, adorned with party flags and posters, moved through key stretches of the Mokama Assembly constituency. Lallan Singh, who has taken charge of Anant Singh’s campaign following his arrest, interacted with voters and appealed for support for Singh, asserting that the NDA government under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi would return to power.
The NDA’s show of strength came even as the Border Security Force (BSF) was conducting flag marches across Mokama throughout the day to maintain law and order in the wake of recent violence.
Almost at the same time, the Grand Alliance’s rally in Danapur saw RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav—who seldom campaigns now due to ill health—leading a 15-kilometre procession backing Ritlal Yadav, the jailed strongman-politician. Yadav, MLA from Danapur for the Rashtriya Janata Dal, is currently in prison in connection with an extortion case. His political career, like Anant Singh’s, has survived repeated brushes with the law, thanks to his deep local network and influence among Yadav voters.
These two displays of support—within the same electoral cycle, in constituencies near the capital—spotlight a striking hypocrisy.
The NDA has long derided the RJD as the revival of “Jungle Raj,” a term referencing the 1990s era when criminals were alleged to have held sway under Lalu and his wife, then-Chief Minister Rabri Devi. The party has repeatedly invoked this narrative in recent months, pointing to the RJD’s decision to field late gangster-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin’s son, Osama Shahab, from Siwan. Yet on Monday, the same alliance actively backed a candidate currently imprisoned on murder charges and dozens of other cases.
According to party insiders, the reasoning is political rather than ideological. For the NDA, backing Anant Singh signals a caste-and-community calculation—Singh is a prominent Bhumihar leader with significant local heft in Mokama. The show of support was meant to convey that the alliance has not abandoned one of its own, even in adversity.
Meanwhile, in Danapur, the candidature of Ritlal Yadav against Ram Kripal Yadav—a former RJD insider who switched sides to join the BJP—adds a personal dimension to the campaign. Lalu and his daughter Misa Bharti are said to be personally invested in ensuring Ram Kripal’s defeat, viewing him as a political traitor who must be humbled in his own backyard.
The effect is that the NDA’s moral high ground on crime and governance has been significantly undercut. By publicly backing Anant Singh, the alliance has muddied its long-standing critique of criminalisation in politics.
In the runup to the polling, both camps spoke about clean politics but failed to put that in practise.
