Is Editor, Outlook Magazine
Mokama is especially critical for the Bihar Election 2025 because the Bhumihar community, though a small percentage of the electorate, acts as a pivot in this constituency. Both rival strongmen who shape politics in Mokama— Anant Kumar Yadav and Surajbhan Singh are Bhumihar leaders.
One of three women candidates fielded by RJD, the daughter of Bahubali Munna Shukhla, Shivani Shukhla, got her ticket just an hour before the nominations window closed.
At a rally on November 11, where UP's former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party came to campaign for Shahabuddin's young son in Siwan ahead of the Bihar elections, the RJD candidate stood behind him and said nothing, but people here say he will learn in time as he is just a boy. In Siwan, Shahabuddin's name still evokes all kinds of emotions. Among them are fear and loyalty. And between those two, there isn't much space for anybody else.
In an interview with Outlook Editor Chinki Sinha, Abhayanand, a 1977 batch Indian Police Service officer of Bihar cadre, known for changing the paradigms of policing through his innovations, talks about the ‘Jungle Raj’, what used to happen then and how did the police tackle with the Bahubalis. Abhayanand is said to be the brain behind speedy trial and convictions of criminals in the state. As per reports, the District Judiciary, in 2010 alone, convicted 14,311 persons in speedy trials, out of which 37 persons were awarded capital punishment and 1,875, life imprisonment. As Abhayanand had envisioned, this instilled the fear of law in the lawbreakers. In this interview, he talks about Jungle Raj, the emergence and legitimisation of Bahubalis, and the caste factor as well as the law and order situation.
In an interview with Chinki Sinha, Abhayanand, a 1977 batch Indian Police Service officer of Bihar cadre, known for changing the paradigms of policing through his innovations, talks about the Jungle Raj, what used to happen then and how did the police tackle with the Bahubalis.
While you could just walk into RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s house and ask him for an interview, it is not the same with Tejashwi Yadav who seems to be accessible only to a select few and has blamed the media for being unfair. Not all media are biased. Not all journalists have agendas.
Outlook’s Chinki Sinha visits Mokama — the land of Anant Singh, where politics and power are inseparable, and where the echoes of gunfire continue to define democracy.
The killing of Dularchand Yadav, a Jan Suraaj party supporter in Patna's Mokama, ahead of the Bihar elections, has revived fears of Jungle Raj among the voters even as rival strongmen trade blame.
Of these, the RSS has not only survived but has grown and with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power at the Centre and in several states.
Christophe Jaffrelot, a professor of Indian politics and sociology at King’s India Institute, London, sits in an interview with editor Chinki Sinha on RSS.
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