Gangsters, rapists field their wives in Bihar polls

Patna: Politicians facing criminal charges have fielded their wives in the upcoming polls to control power in Bihar where elections will start on October 28. These politicians face criminal charges, including murder, rape, kidnapping and extortion.

All political parties have given out tickets to the wives of criminals. This, despite the Supreme Court making it mandatory for all political parties to upload on their websites information regarding individuals with pending criminal cases who have been selected as candidates, and also why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates.

The list is led by Manju Verma, wife of Janata Dal United (JD-U) leader Chadrashekhar Verma whose name figured in the infamous Muzaffarpur child care home sex scandal involving sexual abuse of 34 destitute girls. Verma, who served as the social welfare minister, was jailed in connection with the sex scandal. She has been fielded from Cheria-Bariyarpur seat in Begusarai district. The former minister came under the radar of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials which probed the sex scandal after her husband was found having alleged close links with the jailed Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the case.

Similarly, Manorama Devi, wife of gang-lord Bindi Yadav, is contesting elections on a JD-U ticket from Atari seat in Gaya district. Her family shot into the limelight after her son Rocky Yadav shot a schoolboy dead for overtaking his car. Yadav has been awarded life imprisonment for his crime. His father Bindi Yadav too was awarded a five-year jail term in the case but he managed to secure a ticket for his wife because of his political connections in the JD-U. He succumbed to COVID-19 recently.

Nawada seat

Bibha Devi, wife of another criminal-politician Raj Ballabh Yadav, has been fielded from Nawada seat which has been the traditional seat of her husband. She will contest elections on the ticket of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) headed by jailed politician Lalu Prasad. Raj Ballabh who won the last elections on an RJD ticket has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a teenaged girl at his residence.

According to the victim, a middle-aged woman lured her on the pretext of attending a birthday party in the locality but handed her to the lawmaker. As per the victim’s account, the lawmaker forced her to drink alcohol and made her watch pornographic films on his mobile. She made fervent appeals to let her go saying she was like his daughter but this failed to move him and he raped her.

Accused of rape

Another politician Arun Yadav, accused of rape too, has managed to get an RJD ticket for his wife Kiran Devi. She will contest from the Sandesh assembly seat in Bhojpur district.

Likewise, Rama Kishore Singh who faces serious criminal charges such as kidnapping has managed to get a ticket for his wife Veena Devi. She is contesting elections from Mahnar seat in Vaishali district on an RJD ticket. Singh, a former parliamentarian, had recently surrendered before a court in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh in connection with a 16-year-old case of kidnapping of a petrol pump owner.

Lawmaker Anant Singh, another gangster-turned-politician, has fielded his wife from Barh seat. Singh, who is currently lodged in jail, faces as many as 38 criminal cases, such as murder, kidnapping and extortion, according to his affidavit filed before the Election Commission. He is also contesting elections from Mokama seat on RJD ticket.

Jail term for murder of IAS officer

Another gang-lord Anand Mohan who is serving life term in jail in connection with the murder of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer G Krishnaiah has fielded his wife Lovely Anand. She is likely to file her papers from Saharsa seat as an RJD candidate.

According to a latest report of the Association for Democratic Reforms, an election watchdog working for bringing transparency and accountability in politics and reducing money and muscle power in elections, as many as 57 per cent of politicians elected to the House since 2005 have criminal records. The ADR came to this conclusion after an analysis of 10,785 candidates who contested elections to the state assembly and Parliament since 2005.

The ADR report stated that as many as 57 percent candidates themselves declared the criminal cases pending against them while 36 percent declared they had serious criminal cases pending against them.