Bihar voters have dealt a body blow to the musclemen, who had “tried to enter Parliament by proxy” after they were barred from contesting, by rejecting their kin.

The convicted RJD and LJP MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha — Mohammed Sahabuddin, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and Surajbhan — had fielded their wives on RJD, LJP and Congress tickets. Pappu Yadav’s mother Shanti Priya also contested from Purnea. But all of them lost at the hands of non-controversial candidates.

“In all cases, the margin of victory over kin of the tainted is decisive. It marks a big change in Bihar politics and shows maturity of the voters,” said a political analyst.

Ranjan’s wife Ranjit Ranjan, otherwise dubbed a good candidate, probably had to pay the price for bearing her husband’s name. Rajesh Ranjan has been sentenced to life in the 1998 Ajit Sarkar murder case. She lost to Vishwamohan Kumar of JD(U) by 1,66,074 votes.

Pappu’s mother Shanti Priya contested as a Congress-backed Independent from Purnea where Ajit Sarkar’s widow Madhvi Sarkar was also in the fray. Priya lost to BJP’s Pappu Singh by 1,86,227 votes.

Mohammed Sahabuddin’s wife Hina Sahab lost to Independent candidate Om Prakash Yadav by 63,430 votes at Siwan, till recently called the “impregnable fortress” of her husband, convicted in four cases including murder.

In Nawada, Surajbhan’s wife Vina Devi lost to BJP’s Bhola Singh by 52,065 votes. Surajbhan had banked on caste (Bhumihar) votes but the people voted for development instead.

Lovely Anand, wife of Anand Mohan who was sentenced to life in G Krishnaiah lynching case, was not even in the picture at Sheohar where BJP’s Rama Devi sailed through with 1,26,029 votes, defeating BSP candidate Anwarul Haque.

... contd.