Bihar political row: JDU MLA Anant Singh claims he masterminded 9 murders for Nitish Kumar, then makes U-turn

New Delhi: Janata Dal (United) MLA Anant Kumar Singh has triggered a massive political storm across Bihar after publicly claiming that he orchestrated the murders of nine people to help former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during his early political career. Singh made the remarks while lashing out over his party’s decision to field his rival, Neeraj Kumar, in the upcoming Bihar Legislative Council elections.

Hitting out at his party’s nomination, Singh stated, “Nitish Kumar and I go back a long way. To help him, I got nine people murdered. I stood by him in times when he was struggling to find a toehold.” He also openly questioned why the JDU chose to field Neeraj Kumar, pointing out that their bitter past differences were well known.

The comment handed immediate ammunition to the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which termed the claim an outright admission of political bloodshed. RJD leader Shakti Singh Yadav attacked the former Chief Minister, arguing that Singh had essentially confessed to nine murders carried out during Kumar’s rule. Yadav further alleged that Nitish Kumar had built his political stature across regions like Motihari, Muzaffarpur, and Mokama by leaning on notorious criminal gangs.

JDU moves swiftly to dismiss allegations

Caught on the back foot, the JDU moved quickly to disown the controversial statement. Party national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said the remark did not deserve serious attention, highlighting that Kumar holds a spotless public track record completely untainted by violence or underworld links. He added that such claims carry no weight with the public.

MLA backtracks, shifts blame to Lalu regime

Facing immense backlash, Singh quickly took a complete U-turn on his words and directed the blame toward Lalu Prasad Yadav instead. Singh claimed he had been misunderstood, explaining, “I was trying to say that during the Lalu Yadav government, nine of my associates were killed, and I myself was shot. It was because we aligned ourselves with Nitish Kumar that Lalu Yadav had them killed.”

The bitter dispute comes at a sensitive time in the state, with voting for eight Bihar Legislative Council seats scheduled for 23 October and counting set for 27 October.