Stories
Anant Singh and Lalan Singh: How Relations Shifted From Rivalry to Reconciliation From 2005 to 2026
- •Union Minister Lalan Singh and Mokama leader Anant Singh share a political journey that transitioned from strong alliance in 2005 to bitter conflict and a 2019 electoral battle.
- •Anant Singh shifted from supporting JD(U) to contesting independently in 2015, and his wife Neelam Devi opposed Lalan Singh in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
- •Relations mended by 2024 when Anant Singh actively campaigned for Lalan Singh, utilizing his strong local influence in the Mokama-Munger belt to secure a victory.
- •Lalan Singh reciprocated by taking charge of Anant Singh's political and electoral campaigns during subsequent challenges, cementing their alliance.
- •Despite recent tensions involving Neeraj Kumar in 2026, Lalan Singh was assigned to resolve disputes, highlighting the evolving political necessities and reconciliation of the two leaders.
Key Questions Answered
Initially, Lalan Singh and Anant Singh shared a smooth relationship as senior leaders within the JD(U) camp supporting Nitish Kumar. However, bitterness grew during the 2015 elections when Anant Singh contested as an independent, and peaked during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when Lalan Singh defeated Anant's wife, Neelam Devi, in Munger. By 2024, their relationship transformed into an alliance, with Anant Singh campaigning for Lalan Singh, and by 2025 and 2026, Lalan Singh was deployed to resolve disputes and provide political backing for Anant Singh.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Lalan Singh contested as the JD(U) candidate from the Munger constituency, while Anant Singh's wife, Neelam Devi, contested against him on a Congress ticket. Because their political paths and party affiliations were completely separate at that time, the electoral battle moved directly to Munger, where Lalan Singh ultimately defeated Neelam Devi by 1,67,937 votes.
The political friction began before the 2015 assembly elections when Anant Singh left JD(U) and defeated the party's official candidate, Neeraj Kumar, in Mokama while in jail. The rivalry resurfaced in 2026 when Anant Singh publicly opposed Neeraj Kumar's candidacy for the Patna Graduates' constituency and chose to support Anuj Singh instead, prompting JD(U) to task Lalan Singh with resolving the dispute.
