How a Bihar poll turned Nitish's strongman into PK's unlikely ally

"Haan, karenge!" (Yes, I will), said Mokama's JD(U) MLA Anant Singh when journalists asked him whether he would continue supporting Jan Suraaj's candidate after an NDA meeting at Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary's residence in Patna on Friday. Despite the meeting, the warnings of disciplinary action from the JD(U), and attempts by Nitish Kumar's close aides to broker peace, the Bihar strongman has refused to budge. He is backing Anuj Kumar Singh, the candidate of Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj, against his own party's Neeraj Kumar in the upcoming Bihar Legislative Council elections.And Kishor, or PK as he is better known as, took the confrontation a step further and gave the JD(U) a dare. He claimed that Neeraj Kumar does not have Nitish Kumar's backing. He also challenged the former Bihar CM to publicly endorse Neeraj Kumar, promising to withdraw Jan Suraaj's candidate if he does so.Teachers and registered graduate voters in Bihar will cast their ballots on October 23 to elect eight members of the Legislative Council. Four members each will be elected from Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies. Votes are to be counted on October 27.For Prashant Kishor, who has made education, government schools and employment central to his political campaign, these elections offer an opportunity to test Jan Suraaj's appeal among Bihar's educated voters. There's also a precedent. In April 2023, when Jan Suraaj was still a movement rather than a political party, it supported Independent candidate Afaq Ahmed, who won the Saran Teachers' constituency. But for the ruling BJP-led NDA, the contest is now a test of alliance discipline. For the JD(U), it has turned into an awkward political fire that even Nitish Kumar's closest aides, Union Minister Lalan Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha, have so far failed to douse.Anant Singh remains adamant about backing Jan Suraaj's candidate and opposing the JD(U)'s Neeraj Kumar, at a time when Nitish Kumar has moved to Delhi as a Rajya Sabha MP and the BJP has assumed the leading role in NDA in Bihar under CM Samrat Choudhary. The contest for the seat in Bihar's Upper House has now drawn three of the state's most recognisable figures into the same dispute. At its heart is a bitter, decade-old rivalry between two men from the Mokama region, Anant Singh and Neeraj Kumar, which has resurfaced at a politically sensitive moment for the JD(U).WHY ANANT SINGH IS BACKING PK'S CANDIDATEAnant Singh's support for Jan Suraaj is not the result of a sudden support towards MLA Prashant Kishor or his party. It is a result of a longstanding political rivalry with Neeraj Kumar, the JD(U)'s chief spokesperson and sitting MLC from the Patna Graduates' constituency.The rivalry goes back at least to the 2015 Bihar Assembly election. Anant Singh, who had parted ways with JD(U), contested Mokama as an Independent. JD(U) fielded Neeraj Kumar against him, but Anant Singh retained the seat.More than a decade later, that contest continues to shape their relationship. Anant Singh has maintained that he "respects Nitish Babu and remains loyal to the JD(U).""This is not an election of any party. There is no party symbol in it," Anant Singh told ANI on October 1, defending his decision to back a candidate from outside the JD(U). He has insisted that his opposition is directed at Neeraj Kumar, not Nitish Kumar, and that he will continue backing Jan Suraaj's Anuj Singh."The fact remains that he [Neeraj Kumar] has opposed me on so many occasions. I must pay him back in the same way," Anant Singh said while accompanying Jan Suraaj's Anuj Singh for his nomination on October 1.Anant Singh, who accompanied Anuj Singh to the nomination centre, held a roadshow for him and was seen displaying Jan Suraaj's yellow gamcha. His supporters also raised slogans praising Nitish Kumar and Union minister Lalan Singh, even as their leader campaigned against the JD(U)'s official candidate.Anant Singh's support for Kishor's candidate has remained unwavering, even as the Jan Suraaj's founder has sought to downplay the endorsement, when asked about the Mokama strongman's criminal background. The unusual alignment has nevertheless given PK an opening to take swipes at Nitish Kumar's JD(U).PK CHALLENGES NITISH KUMAR TO PUBLICLY SUPPORT JDU'S NEERAJ KUMARLast week, Prashant Kishor challenged Nitish Kumar to publicly ask voters to support Neeraj Kumat, saying Jan Suraaj would withdraw its candidate if the JD(U) chief made such an appeal on camera.He also warned the NDA to not release an AI-generated video, referring to the earlier Bankipur clip, which Prashant Kishor had claimed was made using generative artificial intelligence.The challenge is pointed as Neeraj has long been among the most visible defenders of Nitish and JD(U). He has spoken for the party on contentious issues, be it the controversy over Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the opposition's allegations of vote theft or the political attacks on Nitish Kumar and the JD(U).PK has also attacked Neeraj Kumar and Patna Teachers' constituency candidate Nawal Kishore Yadav over their records, while promising greater attention to teachers' rights and educating and employing youth.He has said that Jan Suraaj would work towards providing employment to 10,000 educated unemployed young people in constituencies where its candidates win.The constituencies of teachers and graduates are particularly relevant to Prashant Kishor's political positioning. Unlike ordinary Assembly elections, Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies have specialised electorates. The contests are decided through preferential voting rather than the conventional first-past-the-post system.So, the elections have provided Jan Suraaj a platform to campaign on education, employment and accountability, issues Prashant Kishor has repeatedly raised during his political mobilisation across Bihar.WARNINGS BY BJP, JD(U) FAILED TO PERSUADE ANANT SINGHThe controversy has now reached the highest levels of Bihar's ruling alliance. On October 9, CM Samrat Choudhary convened a meeting of NDA legislators at his official residence. Both Anant Singh and Neeraj Kumar attended. But the meeting failed to resolve their differences.CM Choudhary warned that action would be taken against those campaigning against official alliance candidates. JD(U) minister Shravan Kumar subsequently indicated that disciplinary action could follow if Anant Singh continued making statements against the party nominee.The warnings have so far failed to produce a public change in Anant Singh's position. Earlier, Union minister Lalan Singh, considered close to Nitish Kumar and Anant Singh, had indicated that the Mokama MLA had agreed not to speak publicly against Neeraj Kumar. That assurance, however, did not translate into his support for the JD(U) candidate. Minutes after the NDA meeting in Patna, Anant Singh said, "Haan, karenge," on being asked if he would still support the Jan Suraaj candidate.The disagreement is not confined to the JD(U). Three MLAs belonging to Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (part of the ruling NDA) were absent from the October 9 meeting amid another dispute over support for an Independent candidate in the Saran Teachers' constituency.These developments have placed the NDA and the JD(U) in an uncomfortable position. The JD(U) must defend its official candidate without alienating a powerful MLA who has repeatedly demonstrated his electoral influence in Mokama and several seats in central Bihar.For Prashant Kishor, the MLC election got his party an unusual support, with Anant Singh backing his candidate despite remaining a JD(U) MLA. The Bihar strongman has neither joined Jan Suraaj nor entered into an alliance with Prashant Kishor, but the two find themselves on the same side against Nitish Kumar's party in the Patna Graduates' constituency. The unlikely convergence has turned the routine Legislative Council election into a bigger confrontation in Bihar.- Ends