Everything is in party's cognisance,' says JD(U) leader on MLA's claim of 'killing nine people

Working president of the ruling NDA member expresses confidence ahead of Legislative Council election even as the disgruntled 'bahubali' MLA makes a U-turn on his controversial statement

Reacting to Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] MLA Anant Singh's controversial claim of "killing nine people" for former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his subsequent U-turn from the statement, the party's working president Sanjay Kumar Jha on Saturday (October 17, 2026) said that the JD(U) has taken note of the incident.

In a recent video that had gone viral on social media, Mr. Singh, the MLA of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) member from Mokama in Patna, widely known as Bahubali (strongman), could be heard saying: "Nitish Kumar and I go back a long way and to help him, I got nine people killed. I stood by him when he was nothing and struggling to find a toehold".

However, Mr. Singh soon distanced himself from the remark, clarifying that he meant to say "nine of his men got killed during the previous regime of Lalu Prasad when the Special Task Force of Bihar Police raided his ancestral residence because he had aligned with Nitish Kumar".

"Everything is in the party's cognisance", Mr. Jha told media persons on Saturday when asked about the remarks and the U-turn. He also asserted that the NDA candidates "will win all seats" in the election scheduled for October 23. On the eight Legislative Council seats for which election is scheduled, JD(U) is contesting on four seats.

Disgruntled member

The controversial remarks came after the MLA was left disgruntled with the candidates fielded by his party for the coming State Legislative Council election on eight seats.

The bahubali MLA has announced support to Opposition Jan Suraaj Party candidate Anuj Kumar Singh instead of the JD(U)'s Neeraj Kumar for Patna Graduate Council seat. The Mokama MLA had said that he would oppose Mr. Neeraj Kumar, contesting for a fourth term in the coming election, "come what may" since the JD(U) candidate has been "opposing him in every assembly election".

"Unlike Neeraj Kumar and other leaders, I've sacrificed a lot for the party. Later my father also passed away due to heart attack", the MLA asserted while clarifying his statement on the nine deaths.

Jitan Ram Manjhi, Union Minister and chief of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) a coalition partner of the JD(U), had also called for "action against such people" after the Mokama MLA's remarks. Mr. Singh responded to this by saying that "we will see if action will be taken". The MLA also took a swipe at Nishant Kumar, son of the former Chief Minister and current Health Minister, saying that he should not campaign for Neeraj Kumar.

The remarks have added to the ongoing verbal spar between the MLA and Mr. Neeraj Kumar on the campaign trail for the October 23 election even as the party keeps giving assurances to take note of what is happening.