RJD leader Prabhunath Singh.
In an election season marked by a string of hate speeches, this one is the latest. RJD MP Prabhunath Singh, who is engaged in a bitter tussle with the BJP and the Janata Dal (United) to retain his Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat, has courted trouble by threatening Saran's district magistrate-cum-returning officer Kundan Kumar.
The threat against the DM, who had invited Mr Singh's fury by lodging two FIRs against him last week for poll-related offences, was caught on camera. Taking cognizance of the FIRs, a local court had yesterday issued two non-bailable warrants against the RJD leader.
"The DM was earlier posted in Nalanda, and is said to be one of the favourite officers of chief minister Nitish Kumar," Mr Singh is shown as saying in the video-footage. "I am going to a local temple. I will come back with a kafan (shroud) for myself, and also for the returning officer. I am not going to be cowed down by threats of rejecting my nomination papers," the RJD leader added.
A powerful Thakur leader of the area, Mr Singh has several criminal cases pending against him. He was earlier with the JD(U), but fell out with the chief minister after he lost the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. He blamed his defeat on internal sabotage, and later joined hands with Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD. He came back to the Lok Sabha last year after winning a by-election from Maharajganj.
The RJD MP has, in a pre-emptive move, filed an application for anticipatory bail in the court of the the District and Sessions Judge, who postponed the hearing on the plea till April 25. Maharajganj goes to polls on May 7.