Anant Singh’s ‘nine murders’ remark triggers political storm in Bihar; RJD targets Nitish Kumar

Disgruntled JD(U) MLA Anant Kumar Singh has triggered a political controversy in Bihar after claiming that he had orchestrated “nine murders” to help party supremo Nitish Kumar. The Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) seized on the remark, accusing the former Chief Minister of benefiting from criminal elements during his political career.

Singh, the MLA from Mokama, made the remarks while speaking to reporters at his residence. He is reportedly upset with the JD(U) for fielding his political rival, Neeraj Kumar, in the upcoming Legislative Council elections.

Singh has vowed to ensure Neeraj Kumar’s defeat but maintained that his support for Jan Suraaj Party candidate Anuj Singh did not amount to defying Nitish Kumar.

“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,” Singh said.

The JD(U) sought to distance itself from the controversy, with the party’s national spokesperson, Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, dismissing Singh’s remarks as unworthy of serious consideration. He asserted that Nitish Kumar had maintained an unblemished record throughout his political career.

“Nitish Kumar has stood out for an untainted record, with no blemishes of hobnobbing with criminals and involvement in violence or any type of negativity,” Prasad said.

As the controversy escalated, Singh reportedly sought to refute the allegations, while the RJD intensified its attack on the JD(U) leadership.

“Anant Singh has effectively confessed to nine murders, murders that occurred while Nitish Kumar was Chief Minister, and, by implication, for the sake of Nitish Kumar,” RJD leader Shakti Singh said.

He further questioned whether Singh’s subsequent retraction or modification of his statement could be attributed to pressure from the party leadership at the state and national levels.

“Even if Anant Singh later retracted or altered his statement—likely due to pressure from his party at both the central and state levels—does it not remain a fact that Nitish Kumar built his power in Bihar by aligning himself with notorious criminal gangs from across the state—whether from Motihari, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, or the Mokama region? Who were these notorious gang members? They were all with him,” Shakti Singh alleged.