Murder in Mokama triggers clashes, former MLA booked

The killing of gangster-turned-politician Dular Chand Yadav on Thursday evening has sparked widespread violence and tension in the Mokama Assembly segment and adjoining areas. The murder took place in the Taal area of the constituency, where the narrow road allows the movement of only one car at a time.

What started as an argument over right of way between the motorcades of former MLA Ananta Singh and Yadav soon escalated into stone-pelting and shooting, resulting in Yadav’s death. The deceased grandson, Rajesh Kumar, claimed that two nephews of Ananta Singh dragged his grandfather out of the car and shot him.

In a surprising twist, Yadav, who had a controversial background and was known to be close to both Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar, was reportedly campaigning for Jan Suraaj Party candidate Piyush Priyadarshi at the time of the incident.

Priyadarshi alleged that Ananta Singh tried to kill him but ended up injuring him before killing Yadav. Ananta Singh denied the charges and claimed that he was not present at the spot and accused his rival Surajbhan Singh of orchestrating the murder to defame him. Surajbhan’s wife Veena Devi is the RJD candidate from Mokama.

The violence continued on Friday as a crowd of Yadav’s supporters clashed with the police when his body was being taken for post-mortem. Veena Devi also faced stone-pelting by Ananta Singh’s supporters while returning after meeting the bereaved family.

Mokama has a history of gangsters-turned-politicians dominating the region’s politics. Ananta Singh, a known strongman, has won from this seat seven consecutive times regardless of party affiliation or even as an Independent. Both the Mahagathbandhan and NDA have fielded candidates with criminal backgrounds – JDU’s Ananta Singh and RJD’s Veena Devi, wife of Surajbhan, who himself faces serious charges, including that of murder, kidnapping and extortion.

The constituency has remained largely peaceful for over a decade due to central projects such as NTPC’s thermal plant and a railway wagon factory, which drew gangsters into to government contracts and reduced violent turf wars. However, this shift also led to an exodus of the business community from outside the state.

The latest violence has sparked fears that the electoral battle may take an upper caste versus backward caste turn, a scenario the NDA dreads. Jan Suraaj candidate Priyadarshi belongs to the EBC category, which has so far leaned towards the NDA in this upper caste-dominated seat. An FIR has been lodged against Ananta Singh and five of his supporters, but no arrests have been made yet. The police say the probe is underway.

Gangsters turning into politicians has been a familiar trend in Bihar since the 1990s. The Congress was once accused of using gangsters to influence polls and later, these gagsters emerged as political figures themselves. Shahbuddin in Siwan, Pappu Yadav in Purnea, Prabhunath Singh in Saran and Surendar Yadav in Gaya are among those who became MLAs and MPs across party lines.

A picture that still haunts CM Nitish Kumar shows him being weighed in silver coins by Ananta Singh at Lagma village in the early 2000s, a gesture of support for Nitish’s Barh parliamentary bid. The image-conscious CM had defended his move, saying, “Hamam mein sab nange hain”.

Both Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan had no hesitation in fielding gangster candidates, a practice that continues even today with their sons, daughters and wives carrying forward the legacy.