Who is Anant Singh? Jailed gangster, JD(U) candidate leading from Mokama

ANant Kumar Singh, often known as 'Chhote Sarkar', is leading as the JD(U) prospect in the Mokama gathering constituency, as per the Election direction of India's trends. The don-turned-politician made controversial headlines simply forward of the polling in Bihar, as he was arrested in connection with the murder of a supporter of Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party.As he takes the lead in the EC trends, according to the data at 11:30 am, the leader continues to remain jailed. Follow Bihar election results 2025 LIVE updatesSingh's wife, Neelam Devi, had previously won the Mokama seat on a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ticket in the 2022 by-election but later shifted her support to the NDA government.Mokama was among the 121 assembly constituencies that went to the polls in the first phase of the 2025 Bihar assembly elections and saw a voter turnout of 64.77 per cent.Who is Anant Kumar Singh?Anant Kumar Singh is a powerful mobiliser of the Bhumihar caste vote bank, a four-time legislator, who is constantly embroiled in serious criminal cases, ranging from murder to illegal possession of arms.The groundwork for Singh's political career was laid by his elder brother, Dilip Singh, who had his own history as a regional strongman. After Anant Singh aligned with Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in the early 2000s, his political career took flight.ALSO READ | JDU, BJP make NDA shine in Bihar election results. Will Nitish Kumar be CM again?Singh first contested from the Mokama seat as a JD(U) candidate in February 2005, and has held the assembly seat ever since for four consecutive terms.However, after two terms, Anant Singh's ties with JD(U) turned sour due to his criminal activities, resulting in him contesting the 2015 assembly election as an Independent. By 2020, he landed with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and contested from the seat on their ticket, and won again.The entry of criminal cases in his history happened in 2019, when he was booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). In June 2022, he was convicted in connection with the recovery of an AK-47 rifle and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 2024, the high court acquitted him in the Arms Act case.While he was disqualified as a legislator due to his conviction in 2022, his wife Neelam Devi won the by-election on RJD's ticket.Now in 2025, JD(U) has once again given Anant Singh the ticket from the Mokama assembly constituency.While submitting his nomination papers last month, Anant Singh had declared that he owns movable and immovable assets worth ₹37.88 crore. His wife owns movable and immovable assets worth ₹62.72 crore.