File Photo: JD(U) MLA Anant Singh during his arrest in Patna. (Press Trust of India)
Anant Singh, one of Bihar's new lawmakers, did not campaign for a day, but won from Mokama by more than 18,000 votes. Mr Singh is in jail -
he faces five cases of murder, six of attempt to murder and others of abduction and extortion. A total 16.
Anant Singh's family calls him 'Robin Hood,' voters call him "chhote sarkar." People reportedly take their disputes to him; when the family of a groom makes unreasonable demands at weddings, Anant Singh is said to step in at the behest of the worried family of the bride.
"He is the Robin Hood of Mokama. Everyone knows that. There are cases against him but there is no conviction. These cases are false," his nephew Vishwajeet Singh said.
Anant Singh is not the only new lawmaker who fought the Bihar assembly election from jail. Satyadev Ram of the CPI-ML (L) did too - he has one murder case against him, three of attempt to murder and also faces kidnapping charges.
Kedarnath Singh from the Rashtriya Janata Dal faces two charges of murder. Amarendra Pandey of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, who won from Kuchiakote, has seven criminal cases against him, including that of extortion.
Other
bahubalis or strongmen with criminal cases against them have chosen a less direct route to the Bihar assembly. They fielded their wives. So Bima Bharti of the JD(U) is now the MLA from Rupauli, Poonam Yadav of the same party from Khagaria and Kavita Singh also from the JD(U), from Darauda.
All their husbands are in jail and Bima Bharti and Poonam Yadav also have multiple criminal cases against them.
Atri MLA Kunti Devi of Lalu Yadav's RJD has won a second term in the assembly. Her husband Rajendra Yadav is in jail serving a 10-year sentence in a murder case.
In defence of her husband Kunti Devi says, "Didn't Lalu have to go to jail? The case against him is wrong. Even the cases against my husband and I are false."
Almost 50 of Bihar's 243 lawmakers have criminal cases against them. Anant Singh, 54, leads the list with 16 criminal charges, but others follow close behind. More than 30 will sit in the treasury benches - they are members of the ruling alliance of the JD(U), RJD and the Congress.
Will any one of them make it to the new Nitish Kumar Cabinet to be sworn in next week?