Anant To Stop Attacks, Won’t Campaign For Neeraj

Mr Kumar, who is seeking a fourth term in the upcoming Bihar Legislative Council elections, filed his nomination papers on Monday.

Mr Lalan had been authorised to defuse the crisis triggered by Mr Singh’s open support for the Jan Suraaj Party candidate contesting against Mr Kumar. However, the minister acknowledged that Mr Singh remained unwilling to canvass for the MLC, with whom he has a longstanding feud.

“I did speak to Anant Kumar Singh. He does have some grievances,” Mr Lalan said.

According to the minister, Mr Singh alleged that Mr Kumar had worked against him in last year’s Assembly elections and that the party had taken no action despite being aware of it.

Mr Singh also felt hurt because he had supported JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar during the trust vote and rejoined the party at his behest to contest from Mokama, Mr Lalan said.

“It does appear that the state unit has failed to address Anant Singh’s grievances squarely,” he added. “He therefore sticks to his stand in not supporting Neeraj Kumar but has agreed not to give any public statement against him.”

Last week, Mr Singh accompanied Anuj Singh, the Jan Suraaj Party candidate contesting against Mr Kumar, when he filed his nomination papers.

In a related development, Ram Pukar Sinha, spokesperson and state general secretary of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), an NDA partner in Bihar, filed his nomination from the Saran Teachers constituency. The JD(U)’s Anand Pushkar is the coalition’s official candidate there.

Asked about the development, RLM chief and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha avoided a direct reply and said the NDA would win all Legislative Council seats in Bihar.

When asked specifically about Mr Sinha and the three MLAs supporting him, Mr Kushwaha said: “There seems to be madness in the air, and people are getting crazy everywhere. I do not know about this development, so I cannot say whether any action will be taken or not.”