Patna, Oct 26 JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha on Monday met officials at the Bihar Legislative Assembly and said officials assured him quick action on the party’s appeal to cancel Anant Singh’s House membership, who has been expelled from the party for six years.
Singh, a gangster-turned-politician, virtually revolted against the JD(U) when he started campaigning for the Jan Suraaj Party candidate Anuj Singh in the Bihar Legislative Council polls. He vowed to defeat JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar by supporting and canvassing for Anuj Singh.
On Saturday, the Mokama MLA and his wife Neelam Devi, a former legislator, were expelled from the JD(U) for “defying party directives, using insulting language against the top leadership and campaigning for a rival party’s candidate in the recent legislative council elections”.
The party, a constituent of the ruling NDA, also recommended to the Bihar Assembly Speaker that Anant Singh’s House membership be terminated under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
According to sources, Singh’s wife Neelam Devi was also removed from the state government’s 20-point Programme Implementation Committee, members of which are conferred Minister of State (MoS) status.
Following the removal, the Building Construction Department issued a letter on Monday, requesting her to vacate her official residence in Patna by November 25.
Taking to reporters outside the Assembly on Monday, Kushwaha said, “We submitted a letter to the Bihar Assembly Speaker on Sunday seeking cancellation of Anant Singh’s membership from the House. I came here to inquire about action initiated, and the secretary told me that the process is underway and swift action will be taken.”
Mokama has been held by Singh’s family since 1990, irrespective of party affiliation, except for a brief interlude during which it was wrested by a rival “baahubali”.
“Chhote Sarkar”, as Singh is known in Mokama, gave the mantle to his wife Neelam Devi in 2022, when his conviction in a UAPA case led to disqualification from the assembly.
The RJD gave him a poll ticket in 2020 and to his wife in the bypoll two years later. But Neelam Devi defected to the NDA in 2024, understandably with her husband’s approval.
(PTI News)
