'9 murders' claim, then clarification: How 'Chhote Sarkar' put Nitish on the spot

NEW DELHI: Anant Singh, Bihar's bahubali MLA, who is intensely popular on social media reels for his impromptu one liners in local Magahi dialect, made a jittering claim to prove his loyality and sacrifice for JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar."I got nine people murdered," he said on camera, reviving the distressing memory of Jungle Raj that once besieged Bihar. The statement also had a dramatic irony as he was mentioning the man who ruled Bihar as 'Sushasan Babu', Nitish Kumar.Speaking to reporters about his years of loyalty with Bihar's former chief minister Nitish Kumar, the six-time legislator said: “Who has made so many sacrifices as I have? Nitish Kumar was nothing back then; he used to roam around here and there.

At that time, while being with Nitish Kumar, I got nine people murdered.”However, maybe after releasing the political gravity of his remark, the Mokama MLA backtracked and pinned the blame on Lalu Yadav, who was once an ally of Nitish Kumar.

The video went viral and the timing was fatal, because Singh, popular as 'Chhote Sarkar', is already at odds with his party over the Patna Graduates’ MLC election.He is backing the candidate fielded by Prashant Kishor against JD(U)’s Neeraj Kumar, the very man he defeated in the 2015 assembly election.

As criticism came crashing in from the party and the opposition, Singh sensed the backlash and tweaked his remark, saying: “During the Lalu Prasad regime, nine of my associates were killed, and I myself was shot. It was because we aligned ourselves with Nitish Kumar that Lalu had them killed. We have suffered such immense losses. My father also passed away due to a heart attack.”However, the RJD held back the attack as Lalu's party spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav, said: “Anant has publicly confessed to killing nine persons during the NDA regime.

Now Nitish will have to offer explanations.”He went further: “Although he (Anant) has confessed to his involvement in nine murders, the responsibility straightaway goes to Nitish regime...Is paap se chhutkara nahin milekga (There will be no escape from this sin).”

Fate tied to bahubali brother

Anant Singh is no ordinary legislator as locals rarely use his given name. They call him 'Chhote Sarkar', or little lord, because in the Barh and Mokama belt his word has often counted for more than the government’s.His story begins with his elder brother, Dilip Singh. Dilip won as an independent and became a minister in Lalu Prasad’s cabinet during its first term, from 1990 to 1995. Dilip Singh is remembered as the first of the so-called bahubalis, or musclemen politicians, to reach such a post.Anant Singh, who first handled his brother’s election campaigns, took over the family's political reins following Dilip Singh's electoral defeat to rival strongman Surajbhan Singh in 2000.In the next election cycle in 2005, Nitish Kumar, who came to power that year promising to clean up one of India’s poorest and most fractured states, brought Anant Singh into the JD(U). Anant Singh's backing could help the party among upper castes, who did not naturally support Nitish Kumar.However, his allegiance to Nitish began a year before. In 2004, Anant Singh weighed Nitish Kumar against silver coins during a public rally in the Barh parliamentary constituency to show his support.Anant Singh successfully contested the Mokama assembly seat in 2005 on a JD(U) ticket.Once asked why he had embraced a man with such a reputation, Nitish Kumar replied, “There are certain compulsions of politics.”Anant Singh then again contested as a JD(U) candidate in 2010, and the relationship lasted until he quit the party before the 2015 polls.

Pet lover who loves python

Anant Singh keeps a python as a pet, owns an elephant trained to shake hands and rides an antique buggy pulled by expensive horses.Residents describe him holding a durbar where he settles disputes, hears complaints against the police and acts against “miscreants”. Admirers credit him with safer streets and quicker access to services. Critics see a parallel government.

Jail, raids and remarkable run at the polls

Aanant Singh has faced around two dozen serious cases, ranging from murder and kidnapping to conspiracy to kill and the possession of illegal arms. But for years none ended in a conviction, as judges died, officers were transferred and evidence went missing.In 2015, after he was arrested on murder and kidnapping charges, Nitish Kumar cut him loose. The move was widely read as a gesture to Lalu Prasad Yadav, his old rival turned new partner. Nitish JD(U) had snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA over Narendra Modi being chosen as the PM face.Anant Singh, however, fought the election from jail as an independent. His wife, Neelam, campaigned in his name and called him a “rare diamond”. Interestingly, he won comfortably without stepping onto the campaign trail.The pressure returned in 2019 after police arrested three suspected sharpshooters on 15 July, who allegedly planned to kill a contractor, Bhola Singh, and his brother Mukesh Singh.They reportedly told investigators that Anant Singh had given them the contract. He gave a voice sample to the state forensic science laboratory.Soon afterwards, an AK-47 and hand grenades were recovered from his ancestral house, and he was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA.

Anant Singh disappeared for nearly a week.“The man, whose name once spelt terror, is now running for cover,” a senior IPS officer said at the time. He eventually surrendered in a Delhi court and alleged a “conspiracy by political forces”, an apparent dig at the JD(U).Nonetheless, Bihar politics is never bereft of bahubalis. And 2020 was different from 2015. Nitish was back with NDA with ever-dominant BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

And RJD, which was by then handled actively by Lalu's son Tejashwi Yadav, forged an alliance with the Congress.This dynamic also shifted the allegiance of Anant Singh, who fought on RJD's ticket and Nitish Kumar's party. Still in jail in 2020, he won with 78,721 votes, about 53 per cent of valid votes cast, by a margin of more than 65,000.In 2021, a special court in Patna sentenced him to 10 years in the arms case, which cost him his seat.

Neelam Devi then won the by-election for the RJD, showing that the family’s hold on Mokama had not loosened.Nitish again dumped the BJP in 2022 and returned to the RJD's Mahagathbandhan fold. But nothing much changed for Anant Singh.

The fluid loyalty

In February 2024, Nitish Kumar flipped again, leaving the RJD-led alliance for the BJP-led NDA. He won the floor test comfortably with 129 votes, as the opposition walked out. Anant Singh’s wife, Neelam Devi, was one of three RJD MLAs who cross-voted in his favour, a pointed gesture even though the numbers did not depend on it.Months later, Anant Singh stepped out of Patna jail on 15 days of parole in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections. He backed Lalan Singh of the JD(U) in Munger, a sworn enemy whom his wife had challenged on a Congress ticket in 2019. Munger has roughly 3.5 lakh Bhumihar voters, the community to which Singh belongs. The RJD questioned the timing of his release.

A fragile equilibrium

The most dramatic chapter came during the Mokama assembly contest in 2025.

Dularchand Yadav, 76, was murdered while campaigning for a Jan Suraaj candidate. Police arrested Singh, then the JD(U) nominee, in connection with the killing. The NDA responded that, unlike under the Lalu regime, no leader enjoys immunity from legal action.The case revived an old rivalry with Surajbhan Singh, another Bhumihar strongman. Surajbhan began in the LJP, later moved close to the RJD, and saw his own electoral influence shrink after criminal convictions.

His wife, Veena Devi, kept the family relevant in nearby seats. The two men have long competed for land, contracts and political dominance.The arithmetic made the stakes plain. Mokama has about 2.9 lakh voters. Bhumihars number roughly 55,000 to 60,000, Dhanuks about 45,000 and Yadavs about 40,000.

Muslims and Dalits together make up roughly 30 per cent. A shift of 5 to 10 per cent could move 15,000 to 25,000 votes. The killing of a Yadav campaigner threatened to unsettle backward caste voters, while the Bhumihar vote risked splitting between two powerful figures.Net-net, contrary to Anant Singh' remark, "Chhote Sarkar" has been an ally, an outcast, a prisoner, a convict and a kingmaker, often within a few years. And this time again, he has been vocal against his party's MLC candidate Neeraj Kumar and backing Jan Suraaj's Anuj Kumar Singh.“Nishant (Nitish Kumar's son) should not have campaigned for Neeraj Kumar. Sometimes he is taken to Barh, sometimes some other places, but there are few people to support him,” Anant Singh said, claiming he would “medically treat” Neeraj in the election.