Arrest of Anant Singh is the major gamble that Nitish played. It was in fact worth taking. His action underlines the fact he is not scared of the ire of the upper caste Bhumihar. Anant is supposed to be the Bhumihar face in Bihar politics. After arrest of their hero, the Bhumihars had tried to create law and order problem. But the state police did not allow them space. They had to reconcile. They vowed to avenge the humiliation of arrest during the election by ensuring his defeat.

There is a general perception that it was the threat from Lalu that made Nitish act. But the fact is Lalu’s threat made his task easier. Notwithstanding forging an alliance with Lalu, he was standing at a cross road: neither the caste equation favoured him nor he could strongly lay claim of providing a good governance. He was not clear to what extent the Yadav votes would shift towards his JD(U) candidates. Apprehensions were also being expressed that a section of the Yadavs may switch over to the BJP.

It was in this backdrop the incident of murder of Putush Yadav took place. On June 17 goons of Anant killed Putus in Ladma village of Barh. He along with some Rajput youths had earlier protested against eve teasing by goons. In retaliation the goons of Anant Singh had abducted all the four youths. However the police recovered three youths from the clutches of criminals. But the goons succeeded in killing Putush. Since Putush was Yadav, it provided the much needed ammunition to Lalu. Nitish who has been waiting for the right opportunity used the incident to reach out and consolidate his base. Revelation of SSP of Patna that Anant was involved in the murder of a youth Putus Yadav, simply helped Nitish in salvaging his ground by ordering his arrest.

If this incident provided the much needed opportunity to Lalu to consolidate his grip on the Yadav community which in recent times was moving away from him, it also helped Nitish to reach out to them as well as to the Rajputs. The upper caste Rajputs have been a divided house in Bihar. While a section has been with the RJD, a major chunk had rallied behind the BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Traditionally Rajputs have been anti Bhumihars, but they shared common platform during the Lok Sabha elections. This incident has pitched the Rajputs against Bhumihars.

Compulsions of real politick finally prevailed upon Nitish Kumar in directing the state police to lay its hand on his old pal Anant Singh, the dreaded underworld don and push him behind the bars. Arrest of the “Chote Sarkar” has indeed surprised not only the common people but even the political establishment of Bihar. Initially they took it with a pinch of disbelieve. It was only in the night of June 24 once he was produced before the magistrate and sent to judicial custody that people wondered what made Nitish to take to this course.

Action against Anant Singh no doubt would reinforce the trust among the backward castes and also dalits that Nitish was concerned of their class interest. It is quite significant that nearly after two decades of his ruthless rule over the underworld, the police laid its hand on him.

The SSP Jitendra Rana who was removed on June 23, had in fact revealed the previous day that those nabbed in the case had confessed to the police that they carried out the abduction on the instructions of Anant Singh.

What has been quite interesting is Anant Singh was arrested on the basis of a seven month old case which charges him of kidnapping a businessman. During these seven months the police did not act on the FIR filed in this case. It was only after the June 17 incident that the police dug out the case. Arrest of Anant has in fact blunted the attack of BJP which has launched propaganda against Nitish of ushering in Jungle Raj in Bihar. This is clearly borne by the observation of BJP leader Sushil Modi on his facebook. He said that the people of state might get confused of a shushan raj by this action of Nitish. In a way Modi confessed that arrest was manifestation of good governance.

Otherwise too in recent years, Anant has become the most obvious blot on the face of Nitish’s good governance. His criminal activities were embarrassment to Nitish. He had even threatened Jitan Ram Manjhi while he was the chief minister. He had even abused the JD(U) minister in the assembly premises. Using his political clout he was forcibly occupying the properties; something akin what Sadhu Yadav, the brother in law of Lalu used to do during his government. Nitish was feeling embarrassed with his land and building grabbing missions. One thing is absolutely clear-pushing the “Chote Sarkar” of the underworld behind the bars has certainly helped Nitish refurbish his sagging image.

The person who claims “I am the sarkar (government)” has indeed been above the law. His word was the law. Singh is seen as a protector of upper caste Bhumihar interest in Bihar. During his long years as a criminal he has more than 150 cases slapped against him. But he could not be prosecuted in any of the cases. The reason was the Bihar police, having the worst reputation of nursing caste bias, did not intend to antagonise the Bhumihars. If the police are to be believed, he was close to chief of the private militia Ranabir Sena of Bhumihars. Nevertheless he considerably lost his political clout after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He could not make his people rally behind Nitish. Though Nitish did not dump him or act against him, the fact was that Anant has lost the political relevance. With the changing political scenario, the infamous criminal-politician nexus has begun to weaken.

Bihar's ruling Janata Dal now intends to make this action against Anant as the main election agenda. The leaders are not tired of claiming that Nitish Kumar is well known for his strict attitude against crime not only in Bihar but all over the country. Nitish ji has acted against all law offenders irrespective of their party or clout they may claim to have. Obviously the thrust is on good governance. Interestingly the former home secretary and BJP MP R.K. Singh also lauded the Bihar Police for arresting J D(U) legislator. (IPA Service)