Bihar: Days before the Mokama elections, Anant Singh, a former gangster turned politician, was granted parole.

Slogans in praise of “Chhote Sarkar”, the epithet he enjoys on his home turf, rent the air even as Singh declared “a victory by more than 4 lakh votes” for JD(U)’s former president Rajiv Ranjan Singh “Lalan”.

Gangster-turned-politician Anant Kumar Singh, whose MLA wife recently crossed over from the opposition RJD to CM Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), on Sunday walked out of jail on parole.

Singh, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Patna court a couple of years ago in a case under the stringent UAPA, has been released for 15 days, officials said.

He came out of the Beur jail, on the outskirts of Patna, in the early hours and reached his ancestral home in Mokama, about a 100 km away, in an ambulance.

A swarm of supporters greeted Singh, who had been disqualified in his fourth consecutive term as the MLA from Mokama following conviction, only for the seat to be retained by his wife Neelam Devi.

Slogans in praise of “Chhote Sarkar”, the epithet he enjoys on his home turf, rent the air even as Singh declared “a victory by more than 4 lakh votes” for JD(U)’s former president Rajiv Ranjan Singh “Lalan”.

A key aide of the CM, Lalan seeks to retain the Munger Lok Sabha seat, under which Mokama falls. Voting will take place in the constituency on May 13.

Interestingly, in 2019, Neelam Devi had contested against Lalan on a ticket of Congress, the RJD’s junior ally in Bihar.

Singh, once known to be close to the CM, had by then burnt his bridges and in 2020 he contested the assembly poll on an RJD ticket.

Singh and his supporters had squarely blamed a “conspiracy” by Lalan when grenades and rocket launchers were seized from his Mokama residence, leading to the UAPA case.

A couple of months ago, when Nitish Kumar pulled the plug on a short-lived alliance with RJD and returned to the BJP-led NDA, Neelam Devi switched sides.

RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari targeted the Nitish Kumar government over Singh’s release from jail.

“Here is a government that itself seems to be on parole, what to speak of the release of one individual. All know how this government in Bihar was formed. Some favours have to be returned,” remarked Tiwari.

The release of Singh, whose influence spreads beyond Mokama, is being viewed as an attempt to galvanise upper caste Bhumihars in favour of the NDA in Munger.

The RJD has fielded Kumari Anita, wife of dreaded gangster Ashok Mahto who is known to be a staunch critic of upper caste dominance in society and politics.