The 'Bahubali' Social Media Star: Meet Anant Singh Whose Disqualification Necessitated Mokama Bypoll

Polling is underway in Bihar’s Mokama assembly constituency on Thursday under tight security and assumes special significance as being one of two bypolls taking place in the state for the first time after after the formation of the ‘Mahagthabandhan’ government around three months back.

The byelection was necessitated after Anant Singh, the area’s ‘bahubali’, who had won in the 2020 Assembly Polls on an RJD ticket, was disqualified as an MLA following his conviction in an arms recovery case. Singh has over 38 criminal charges against him, ranging from kidnap to murder.

Anant Singh: Mokama’s Strongman

Mokama is the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. Singh, popularly known as ‘Chhote Sarkar’, is the four-time MLA. Singh had earlier won twice on a JD(U) ticket and once as an independent candidate.

Singh continues to remain a popular candidate, not just in Mokama, but also in the digital world, for his candid, often eccentric statements. An irreverent comment he made to reporters in Patna in 2019 on the Nitish Kumar government turned him into an overnight sensation on social media, with memes and clips being made in hordes.

He continues to hold a certain reverence on social media even now, with his idiosyncratic media bytes being used in memes and video clips. Despite his disqualification, Singh remains in the fray by proxy of his wife Neelam Devi, who is contesting the byelection as an RJD candidate.

The MLA Who Won From Behind Bars

Singh was once a favourite of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and has fought four elections on a JD(U) ticket. The duo fell out after the 2015 assembly elections,

The duo, however, fell out after the 2015 assembly elections. At the time, the JD(U) had tied up with the RJD, which had made Singh’s alleged murder of a Yadav youth in that year a poll issue. Singh was arrested for the murder when the two parties formed a government but secured bail in the case, The Print reported.

Singh is, in fact, accused of no less than seven murders, out of the 38 criminal cases against him. Other crimes he is accused of include kidnapping, and possession of an AK-47 and explosives.

His criminal history did not, in the least, sway voters. Singh participated in and won the 2020 Assembly elections from behind bars with wife Neelam Devi campaigning for him. His supporters were so sure of his victory that people in his constituency were uploading pictures from the feast organised by his followers to celebrate his win even as the counting was still on, as per The Print.

Social Media Sensation

While the ‘dabang neta’ had enjoyed a fan base in Mokama for long, as his sometimes cheeky, sometimes bizarre, irreverent remarks started doing the rounds on the internet, he soon became a favourite on social media as well — a Yuva Hriday Samrat or the King of Meme Lovers, as per The Print.

It is even more of an impressive feat as he did not have a social media presence until 2020. Singh’s made his Twitter account in that year. He had once told a reporter he is not on social media because he “doesn’t understand it”.

However, his clips answering questions in laid-back style won him admiration and made him a regular subject of “thug life” memes among others. In one of his interviews, when asked by a reporter if his style is natural or practiced, he said that he underwent training in a foreign university.

Once he was asked why he wanted to be MP, he said it was because he liked to travel in airplanes. In yet another video, when asked about the welfare of girls in the state, he responded that others were already doing a lot and he would work on the welfare of boys.

His sarcastic, quick quips, which to some are a breath of fresh air from the otherwise serious drone of politicians, make him a hit with social media crowds.

As for Mokama, his popularity is assured. “In Mokama constituency, no party exists. Here, only personalities like Anant Singh and Lalan Singh (his opponent strongman) exist,” a group of locals were quoted as saying in The Hindu.

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