Jailed Bihar MLA Anant Singh reaches assembly in a prison van

Controversial Bihar MLA Anant Singh, currently in jail in connection with some serious offences, on Monday caused a flutter when he made an appearance at the state assembly where the winter session is underway.

The Mokama MLA, who has a long history sheet, was booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act (UAPA) earlier this year following the recovery of an AK 47 rifle, its cartridges and some hand grenades from his ancestral house.

After dodging the police for weeks, he surrendered before a Delhi court alleging that he was being "framed" by leaders of the ruling JD(U). He was brought back and lodged at the Beur Jail on the outskirts of the city before being shifted to Bhagalpur for security reasons.

Recently, he was booked in another case of attempt to murder when his voice sampled matched with an audio clip wherein he was heard planning an attack on a Mokama-based contractor.

Singh was brought to the Vidhan Sabha premises by a prison van. Donned in trademark, spotless white shirt, trousers and shoes and a bright red tilak adorning his broad forehead, the MLA nicknamed "Chhote Sarkaar" in his constituency was approached by journalists before he sauntered inside the building with a swagger.

Asked whether he would repeat his allegation in front of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his former political patron, that the government was falsely implicating him in criminal cases, Singh not known to have a way with words quipped in the Magahi dialect "kahe nahin bataenge. Sagaro bataaenge (why not. I will tell him each and everything)".

However, the MLA, who was granted permission to take part in the assembly proceedings by a court last week, could not do as he wished since the Chief Minister did not turn up at the assembly and the House was adjourned for the day within minutes of reassembling for the post-lunch session.