Will repay political debt with interest: Neeraj Kumar on Lalan Singh

Janata Dal (United) leader and newly elected MLC Neeraj Kumar. File

Differences within Janata Dal (United) surfaced on Thursday (October 29, 2026) when party MLC Neeraj Kumar refused to seek the blessing of senior party leader and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh.

Mr. Neeraj who has registered victory for the fourth consecutive term in Patna Graduate constituency was speaking to reporters after meeting party’s president Sanjay Jha in Patna.

When reporters asked whether he will also go to seek the blessing of Lalan Singh, Neeraj replied, “Shawal hi paida nahi hota hai, akhir mera gunah kya tha ki inti pareshani jhelni padi (There is no question about it—what did I do wrong that I had to endure such trouble?).”

During the entire Legislative Council election, Mr. Singh did not even campaign in support of Neeraj, rather gave moral support to Anant Singh who was campaigning against Neeraj Kumar.

Making a direct attack on the Union Minister, Mr. Kumar said, “My parents and ancestors have given me this lesson that if you have ever taken a debt, make sure to pay it back, and I shall repay this political debt with interest.”

He further said, “Those who wish to offer congratulations are doing so—sending blessings through social media and through various other channels and I have received immense love from the party workers.”

Asked about any chance of a reconciliation, Mr. Kumar said, “I didn’t even make any attempt towards it, I was never in favour of one. However, everyone should fulfil their ‘party duty’ just as I had fulfilled my own party duty.”

When further asked who he was fighting against within the party, Mr. Kumar said, “Things are clear for all to see; there is no need for hints. You will soon realise in whose house there will be political mourning.”

When the conflict had started between Neeraj Kumar and Anant Singh, JD(U) Working President Sanjay Kumar Jha had said that Lalan Singh was deputed to resolve the issue. All three leaders belong to Bhumihar caste.

However, after meeting Anant Singh, the Union Minister had defended the Bahubali (strongman) MLA from Mokama and had pointed towards past actions of Neeraj Kumar, asserting that when Anant Singh was contesting the election (2025 Assembly election), some party leaders, including Neeraj Kumar had opposed him and party leadership failed to take action against Neeraj that time.

“Har kriya ki pratikriya hoti hai (every action is bound to have a reaction); it takes two hands to clap—both hands must come together. The party should have taken action when the campaign against him (Anant Singh) was underway; the party should have taken the initiative at that time. The state unit of the party failed to act then,”Mr. Lalan Singh said on October 5, 2026, while speaking to the reporters at Patna airport.

Lalan Singh indirectly gave moral support to Anant Singh, and after that, Anant Singh openly opposed JD(U) official candidate Neeraj and campaigned for Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) candidate Anuj Singh. On October 24, Anant Singh and his wife Neelam Devi were expelled from the JD(U) for six years on charges of anti-party activities.

On October 29, 2026, the office of the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) released the data according to which Neeraj defeated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Dilip Kumar by a margin of 4665 votes, whereas the JSP candidate came third. Overall, Neeraj Kumar got 19930 votes, Dilip Kumar 15275 votes and Anuj 11278 votes.

After the victory, Neeraj Kumar met all the top leaders of JD(U) to seek their blessings, including former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Sanjay Jha. He also met Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) President and Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha.

Mr. Jha, on the other hand, held a review meeting at the party office over the Legislative Council results in which the party could only win one seat and lost three others.

Mr. Jha said that soon the party will take action against more rebel leaders. Sources in the party said that JD(U) leader and minister Ashok Choudhary is also on the radar of the party’s leadership, and action could be taken against him as well for secretly working against the party’s official candidate.

In Darbhanga Graduate constituency, RJD candidate Anil Jha defeated BJP’s Sarvesh Kumar. With this out of eight seats of Legislative Council, RJD and BJP won two seats each, JD(U) and JSP one seat each and two by Independent candidates.