Showcasing their influence, several "muscle men" from various parties, including jailed Anant Singh, who are contesting the Bihar Assembly elections, as well as their wives and sons fielded in their place, were leading in their respective constituencies in Tuesday's vote count.
Contesting from Patna's Mokama as a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate, Anant Singh, a friend-turned-foe of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, was leading by over 30,000 votes against his rival Rajeev Lochan Narayan Singh of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U).
Lodged in Patna's Beur jail in a case under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Activities, he had also won the 2015 Assembly polls as an independent candidate from inside the jail after being denied a ticket by Nitish Kumar's JD-U.
Known as "Chote Sarkar" and facing 37 cases, Singh had also won from Mokama in 2005 and 2010 as a JD-U candidate.
RJD's Rit Lal Ray, who was released from jail earlier this year, was also leading from Patna's Danapur assembly constituency by a margin of over 16,000 votes against Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Asha Devi. Ray is the accused in the murder case of Asha Devi's husband Satyanarayan Sinha in 2003.
This is for the first time that Ray is contesting as a RJD candidate against Asha Devi. Ray had also contested against her in 2010 as an Independent candidate. But at that time he was lodged in jail for the murder. Ray is currently facing over 33 cases related to murder, extortion and several other charges.
Another RJD muscle man Prabhunath Singh's son Randhir Kumar Singh, who contested from Chapra assembly constituency, was also leading against BJP's Dr C.N. Gupta by over 1,400 votes.
Prabhunath Singh is currently serving life imprisonment in a murder case.
Meanwhile, Narendra Kumar Pandey aka Sunil Pandey, who contested as an independent candidate from Tarari Assembly constituency in Bhojpur, is leading by a margin of over 700 votes over sitting MLA Sudama Prasad of the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (Liberation).
However, Pandey's younger brother and former MLC Hulas Pandey, also a muscle man, who contested as a Lok Janshakti Party candidate from Brahmpur Assembly seat is trailing by a margin of over 43,000 votes against RJD's Shambhu Nath Yadav.
Rape-accused RJD leader and former minister Raj Vallabh Yadav's wife Vibha Devi is leading from Nawada assembly seat by a margin of over 15,000 votes.
Another RJD muscle man Arun Yadav, who is facing charges of raping a minor girl, has fielded his wife Kiran Devi from Sandesh assembly seat in Bhojpur and she is also leading by a margin of over 50,000 votes against her Vijendra Yadav of the JD-U.
On the JD-U's side, late muscle man Bindi Yadav's wife Manorama Devi, contesting from Gaya's Atri Assembly seat, is trailing by a margin of over 6,000 votes against Ajay Yadav of the RJD.
Her son Rocky Yadav is serving a life term for murder for killing a class 12 boy Aditya Sachdeva in a road rage in 2016 at Gaya.
RJD's muscle man and former MP Rama Singh's wife Bina Singh is leading by a margin of over 3,000 votes from Manhar Assembly constituency against JD-U's Umesh Singh Kushwaha. Former Minister and veteran RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had objected to entry of Rama Singh into the party, just days before his death.
Another RJD muscle man, Surendra Prasad Yadav, who is also known as "Magadh Samrat" is leading by a margin of over 19,000 votes from Belaganj Assembly constituency, over JD-U's Abhay Kumar Sinha.
Another muscle man JD-U's sitting MLA Amrendra Kumar Pandey, brother of dreaded gangster Satish Pandey from Kuchaikote, was also leading. He was named in the murder case of three of family members of a RJD supporter in May this year. The Bihar Police arrested Satish Pandey and his son Mukeesh Pandey in the case.
Satish Pandey, a history-sheeter wanted in connection with over 150 cases in Bihar and eastern UP, had surrendered in 2010. A native of Gopalganj's Tulasia village, he carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. He was also wanted in connection with the killing of former Bihar minister Brij Bihari Prasad in 1998. The CBI too had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head.
Another JD-U Minister Manju Verma, who had to step down in disgrace when it was alleged that her husband had close ties with Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal surfaced in July 2018, was also trailing from Cheria Bariyarpur assembly seat.
The Muzaffarpur shelter home case is being probed by the CBI.
Similarly, JD-U's Lesi Singh, wife of slain ganglord Butan Singh, is also leading from the Dhamdaha assembly seat.
SOURCES: IANS