Patna : Unlike last polls, some criminal-turned-politicians, called “bahubalis” in local parlance, and their wives won the Lok Sabha election while others, including three wives of jailed leaders, lost in Bihar Friday.
Thanks to BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi wave, Satish Chandra Dubey of the BJP won from Valmiki Nagar and Rama Kishore Singh of Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party romped home on the Vaishali seat.
Dubey defeated Congress candidate Purnmasi Ram, the only Dalit person to contest polls from a general seat.
Dubey is facing a dozen criminal cases, including those of attempt to murder, kidnapping, extortion and several under the Arms Act, according to the affidavit filed by him before the Election Commission.
A Brahmin, he is hopeful of getting the support of the upper castes as well as the backward classes and Dalits.
A confidential report of the Sashastra Seema Bal — the paramilitary force that patrols the Nepal border — has now surfaced that says Dubey is part of a syndicate that controls smuggling of ganja and charas in his constituency.
Rama Kishore Singh also faces charges of kidnapping, murder and extortion.
He defeated RJD candidate and sitting MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, a former union minister who is not only popular but also has a clean image.
This is first defeat of Raghuvansh “babu” as he is addressed to by local people. He is into electoral politics for over three decades.
Another “bahubali” and BJP candidate Nityanand Rai won from Ujiyarpur.
RJD candidate Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, a former Lok Sabha member who was acquitted last year in the May 1998 murder of CPI-M leader Ajit Sarkar, took the Madhepura seat. He defeated JD-U president Sharad Yadav.
Last year, citing lack of evidence, the Patna High Court acquitted Pappu Yadav.
Pappu’s wife Ranjeet Ranjan won from Supaul seat as a Congress candidate.
LJP candidate Veena Devi, wife of former MP Suraj Bhan Singh, triumphed from Munger.
Former union minister Mohammad Taslimuddin, who is facing several criminal cases, won from Araria seat as an RJD candidate. He defeated BJP’s sitting MP Pradeep Kumar Singh.
BJP’s Rama Devi, the widow of Brij Bihari Prasad, a gangster killed by his rivals over a decade ago, pipped others to the post in Sheohar.
LJP’s Veena Devi, wife of former MP Suraj Bhan Singh, claimed the Munger seat.
There are “bahubalis” who lost the polls. JD-U’s Manoranjan Kumar Singh alias Dhumal Singh was defeated from Maharajganj seat. Similarly, RJD candidate and sitting MP Prabhunath Singh was vanquished on the same constituency.
About half-a-dozen wives of leaders with a criminal background bit the dust.
RJD’s Hena Shahab, wife of jailed former MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, lost in Siwan and independent candidate Anu Shukla, wife of jailed husband Munna Shukla, fell by the wayside in Vaishali.
Samajwadi Party candidate Lovely Anand, wife of former MP Anand Mohan who is in jail, was a loser in Sheohar.
RJD’s Krishna Yadav, the second wife of Ranvir Yadav, was defeated in Khagaria.