JD(U) Mokama MLA Anant Singh on Friday asserted that no one could question his loyalty to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, claiming he had supported Kumar “when he was nobody” in politics. The statement came even as his open rebellion against the party over the Patna Graduates MLC seat continues.
Speaking to reporters, Singh claimed he had gone so far as to have “nine people killed” in that earlier period and had made many sacrifices for Kumar. The remarks are certain to spark a political storm in Bihar, where the language of crime and muscle power has long been associated with the Mokama strongman.
The claim, whatever its intent, underscores the peculiar nature of Singh’s position: a sitting JD(U) legislator invoking his history of loyalty to the Chief Minister while openly defying the party’s official decision. It is a message directed as much at Nitish Kumar as at the party leadership — that his rebellion is personal loyalty expressed differently, not a break with the leader himself.
Singh’s show of loyalty sits uneasily with his current political course. He is boycotting the JD(U)’s official candidate for the Patna Graduates MLC seat and has thrown his weight behind Jan Suraaj Party candidate Anuj Singh. Anuj Singh filed his nomination on October 15 accompanied by Anant Singh, and the MLA has said he will campaign for him across all 26 assembly segments of the constituency. With the nomination phase now closed, the spotlight falls squarely on how much support the Jan Suraaj challenger can draw against the ruling alliance’s incumbent.
The JD(U)’s official candidate is incumbent MLC Neeraj Kumar, the party’s chief spokesperson, who is seeking a fourth term and is backed by the NDA. NDA leaders have described the contest as a prestige battle, making Singh’s rebellion a direct challenge to the alliance’s discipline in Bihar.
That is what makes the Patna Graduates seat one of the most keenly watched of the eight. An incumbent chief spokesperson carries the full weight of the party machinery behind him, and any erosion of support — particularly from a heavyweight MLA campaigning across all 26 assembly segments — would be read as a signal of deeper fault lines within the NDA’s house in Patna.
Polling for the eight Bihar Legislative Council seats is scheduled for October 23, 2026, from 8 am to 4 pm, with counting of votes on October 27. The outcome of the Patna Graduates seat will be watched closely as a measure of how much traction Anant Singh’s defiance actually carries.
