Dularchand Yadav
Credit: X/@sudhir94700
Patna: Within an hour after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended narrating the horror tales of ‘jungle raj’ during the Lalu Yadav-Rabri Devi era, in Muzaffarpur on Thursday, gunshots rent the air in nearby Mokama, where the suspected supporters of JD(U) nominee Anant Singh gunned down Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj leader Dularchand Yadav in daylight.
The gruesome killing brought back the memories of internecine war between Bihar ganglords in the 1990s.
Dularchand, a muscleman-turned-politician, was close to Nitish as well as Lalu, but was rooting for his so-called nephew Piyush Priyardarshi, who was contesting as Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj candidate.
What happened
On Thursday evening, Piyush was returning after campaigning while Anant’s cavalcade was coming from the opposite side. Eyewitnesses said one of Anant’s supporters stopped his Thar vehicle and parked it diagonally on the road near Baswan Chowk, thereby blocking Piyush’s cavalcade.
A heated exchange took place, followed by fisticuffs. Dularchand, canvassing for Kishor's nominee, objected to this "one-upmanship" of Anant’s men and said, “If Anant Singh is called ‘Chote Sarkar’ (younger government), my nephew Piyush is ‘Bade Sarkar’ (elder government).”
The verbal altercation took a turn to the worse, and 12 rounds of firing took place. The 75-year-old Dularchand was first shot in his leg and then in his palm. When he fell down, Anant Singh’s supporters ran an SUV over Dularchand, killing him on the spot and injuring 12 others. The Jan Suraaj candidate, Piyush, too sustained injuries in the gun battle.
Heavy police deployment was done soon after the bloody incident. “The Patna Rural Superintendent of Police Vikram Sihag is camping there. More police reinforcements have been rushed in. Raids will be carried out to apprehend those behind the killing,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Patna Kartikey Sharma.
“An FIR has been lodged by Dularchand’s grandson, who has named Anant Singh, JD(U) nominee, his two kin Ranvir and Karamvir, besides Chotan Singh and Kanjay Singh in the murder case,” said a police source.
"Prima facie, it appears Dularchand, who sustained gunshot injuries, died after being run over by a vehicle. Many others were injured while 12 vehicles were damaged. Further investigation is on,” said the Patna Rural SP, under whose jurisdiction is Mokama.
PM should open his eyes: Tejashwi
Taking a jibe at the Prime Minister following the incident, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said, “It’s time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open his eyes and answer how supporters of a ruling party were moving with guns. Forget what happened 20 years back. The PM should tell who are all those roaming around during the elections with arms and ammunition? And what kind of rule is this?”
Anant, however, denied any role in the killing and blamed the RJD candidate, Veena Devi, the wife of another muscleman-turned-politician Surajbhan Singh.
Steered clear of the allegation, Veena Devi said, “What rubbish? We have no role to play in the war between Anant’s men and the Jan Suraaj candidate.”
Longstanding rivalry
Dularchand Yadav’s rivalry with Anant Singh dates back to the time when he lost the 1990 Bihar Assembly election against Anant’s elder brother Dilip Singh.
Mokama is one turf on the outskirts of Patna where the musclemen from the 'upper' caste Bhumihar community have been at loggerheads with Yadavs (OBCs) for ages. Friday's killing was a testimony to the never-ending battle for one-upmanship between the two.