Not with A Bang But A Whimper: Did CM Nitish Kumar Advise Anand Mohan to Keep A Low Profile?

It was a tiring day for the supporters who were waiting to catch a glimpse of their favourite neta. Local as well as national media houses had their representatives deployed at every spot where they could get a reaction of the ‘Bahubali’ who was set free after 15 years, 9 months, and 20 days from Saharsa jail. Over 500 four-wheelers and a thousand motorcycles were waiting to escort the leader with flags bearing ‘Sher-e-Bihar’. Women, children, and the elderly stood for hours with garlands and flower petals to give him a grand welcome in Panchgachia village. But it all went in vain when the country’s first politician to get a death sentence (later commuted to life) after getting released from jail did not appear in public throughout the day.

Former Member of Parliament and ex-MLA Anand Mohan surprised his supporters and media persons who were waiting for him to come out of jail in Saharsa on Thursday. At around 8am, it was known that Anand Mohan was released around 3-4am and went out of sight of the public. The time of his release was expected to be 11 am earlier. People had no idea where Anand Mohan was. Some said he had left for his village, others speculated he went to a hotel, and a few maintained he was staying at a relative’s house in Patna.

Supporters had started pouring in from different districts of Bihar, and some came from Uttar Pradesh as well. Each and every supporter had the confidence that their neta would appear before them and address the gathering. The plan was to have a roadshow at 11 am on the streets of Saharsa. First, Anand Mohan would garland Ambedkar and Veer Kunwar Singh statues followed by the massive roadshow. Then he and his thousands of supporters would go to Panchgachia, his native village, which was just 12 km away from Saharsa town. Throughout the day, the media and supporters kept going to and fro between Panchgachia and Saharsa, but Anand Mohan was untraceable.

Back in Panchgachia in scorching heat, hundreds of women and children were standing in queues with flower petals in their hands, and men were holding garlands. There was an arrangement of poori-sabzi, rasgulla, gulab jamun, and other sweets.

Around 5pm, Anand Mohan’s son and RJD MLA Chetan Anand and daughter Surbhi Anand arrived in Panchgachia and said that their father was told to keep the release a low-key affair. Later, CNN-News18 figured out how and why ‘Sher-e-Bihar’ evaded everyone. After leaving Saharsa Jail, Anand Mohan reached Patna by road in the morning via Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur. Here, he had a flight at 11 am for Delhi. From there, he reached Dehradun. According to sources, Anand Mohan was in contact with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday (April 27). They also claimed that the direction was that Anand Mohan should not speak to the media. He was told that he should leave for Dehradun directly and prepare for his son’s marriage.

According to sources, security was a major issue and dissent from the Dalit community and central IAS association over his release had worried the CM. Observers say Nitish Kumar is image-conscious and has branded himself ‘Sushashan Babu’ (one who provided good governance) right from the beginning. At a time when the rules of the Bihar Jail Manual were tweaked to set free 27 people incarcerated for more than 14 years and clear the way for Anand Mohan as well, there was an outcry from the Dalit community and the family of late IAS officer G Krishnaiah strongly opposed the decision of the Nitish government. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also condemned the Nitish Kumar government for its decision and called it an anti-Dalit move. Moreover, a Public Interest Litigation was filed by a retired IPS officer of Bihar, Amitabh Das, after the central IAS association expressed its dismay and requested Nitish to have a relook.

Another reason for the cancellation of the grand show in Saharsa is said to be the media trial of Anand Mohan on April 25 in Patna, when he gave interviews to over 15 journalists. “Anand Mohan should not have spoken to the media before he was finally released. It generated negative headlines and discomforted many including our Netaji. During his interview, mocking Mayawati was not appreciated either,” said a close associate. Another supporter from Munger said, “There could be security issues as well…The kind of incident (Atiq Ahmed’s killing) that happened in Uttar Pradesh has raised alarm among public figures.”

Amid controversy over the release of Anand Mohan Singh, Bihar chief secretary Amir Subhani contended on Thursday that the measure was in accordance with law and the state government had not done anything wrong in amending the Jail Manual 2012. “We have followed all guidelines before passing the release order. Anand Mohan is a politician and there are so many talks going on pertaining to his case. He has served more than 15 years of sentence and also 7 years in jail. So, he has already been more than 22 years in jail. Hence, the decision taken in his case is as per the law,” he said.

Uma Krishnaiah, the wife of the slain IAS officer, had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene and make Nitish Kumar withdraw his decision, which will set a bad precedent and have serious repercussions for the entire society. “My husband was an IAS officer and it is the Centre’s responsibility to ensure that justice is done,” she said.

Padma Krishnaiah, daughter of G Krishnaiah told CNN-News18, “It is useless requesting CM Nitish Kumar, as he has taken the decision to appease Rajput voters in Bihar. We will move to the Supreme Court instead and challenge the decision taken by his government.”

However, Anand Mohan’s son Chetan Anand said that he wanted to meet the family of the slain IAS officer. “We want to meet his family if allowed…we can do it as soon as possible.”

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