With Lok Sabha Election 2024 around the corner, the political corridors in Bihar are abuzz with the rushed wedding of convicted lawbreaker from Nawada district, Ashok Mahto, who in a bid to gain political clout married during ‘kharmas’ (an inauspicious period). Sixty-two-year-old Mahato, who can’t contest himself as he was released last year after 17 years in jail in a 2001 Nawada jailbreak case, married 46-year-old Kumari Anita on Tuesday.
The strongman wants an RJD ticket for a family member to take on JD(U) heavyweight Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh from Munger Lok Sabha seat. Mahto won’t get a ticket himself as the law dictates that a convicted criminal cannot contest an election for six years following the end of his sentence.
He and his new bride met RJD chief Lalu Prasad in Patna on Wednesday to ‘seek his blessings’. However, it remains to be seen if the muscleman’s wife gets to try her hand in politics, as after the meeting, Mahato told reporters that Lalu didn’t give him any “assurance” about the party ticket.
ALSO READ: After 17 Yrs in Jail, This Bihar Bahubali Gets Married at the Age for 62 for ‘Lok Sabha Polls’ | Know His Story
Who is Ashok Mahto?
Ashok Mahto, a noted Bihar criminal gang leader, walked out of a Bihar jail after spending 17 years. Mahto was accused in several cases such as Nawada Jailbreak, the murder of P Raju Singh massacre in Sheikhpura’s Manipur and Nawada’s Apsardh and BDPO murder. He was released on December 10, 2023.
Mahto hogged the limelight in 2022 after the release of a web series– Khakee: The Bihar Chapter. Based on a book written by IPS officer Amit Lodha, the series reportedly shows the story of Mahto’s criminal gang.
All About Mahto’s New Bride Anita
Anita (46) is the daughter of Hari Mehta, a resident of the Bansipur Hemjapur area under Suryagarha block of Lakhisarai. She works at a private firm in Delhi. Her father Hari Prasad Sahni was a PWD engineer. She tied the nuptial knot with Mahto at Karauta Jagdamba Mandir in Patna’s Bakhtiyarpur on Tuesday night.
Anita Samsabar belongs to the Kurmi community, while Ashok Mahto comes from the Dhanuk Kurmi community.
History Of Bahubali Wives In Bihar
But what’s interesting is that Mahto’s is not an isolated case of rushed nuptial during the poll season, as earlier another ‘Bahubali’ Ajay Singh married during the inauspicious ‘Pitrapaksha’ period when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar refused to give him JD(U) ticket to contest by-election from Daunda owing to his criminal background.
In 2011, by-poll in Daunda was necessitated following the demise of MLA Jagmato Devi, who happened to be Singh’s mother. At the time, Ajay was facing charges in several criminal cases, and JD-U had reservations in allowing him to contest the by-poll. He eventually married Kavita Singh at a temple, who won the by-election on the JD(U) ticket. She was later elected as an MP from Siwan in the 2019 Lok Sabha election by defeating Hina Sahab, wife of convicted don and four times MP Mohammad Shahabuddin.
Guns and goons have been an integral part of Bihar’s political landscape, which saw the rise of musclemen politicians like Mohammad Shahabuddin, Anand Mohan Singh, Anant Singh, Pappu Yadav and Surajbham.
But as time changed and many of them got convicted, they switched to safer routes —to rule by proxies. As a result, a new breed of politicians has emerged in the state—kins of Bahubalis—in most cases their wives and in some brothers and sons.
In 2029, the Maharajganj Lok Sabha constituency saw a fight between two Rajputs. BJP’s Janardan Singh Sigriwal was pitted against RJD’s Randhir Singh, who is the son of Bahubali and former Parliamentarian Prabhunath Singh. Prabhunath has been convicted in a murder case.
Meanwhile, from the Munger constituency, Congress fielded the dreaded Anant Singh’s wife Neelam Devi. Singh is known as “Chhote Sarkar” in Munger and has gained media eyeballs for his dressing habits and horse riding fad.
Nawada seat also saw a battle of proxies, where RJD’s Vibha Devi, wife of the former RJD MLA and strongman Raj Ballabh Prasad (in jail for raping a minor girl) fought against LJP’s Chandan Kumar, the brother of strongman Suraj Bhan Singh.
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