Patna, October 17 (IANS) Union MSME Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) patron Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday criticised Mokama MLA Anant Singh over his controversial “nine murders” remark and demanded an inquiry into the statement, followed by appropriate action.
“If Anant Singh claims that he committed murders to help Nitish Kumar, then he has acted wrongly. If he truly wanted to help, he should have done so through positive actions. I demand an inquiry into his statement, followed by appropriate action against him,” Manjhi said.
Meanwhile, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) National working President Sanjay Jha said the party had taken note of both Singh’s original statement and his subsequent clarification.
He added that the party’s Bihar unit was closely monitoring the developments.
The JD-U has not announced any disciplinary action against Singh so far.
The controversy erupted after Singh, speaking to a leading media agency on Friday, made remarks about the sacrifices he claimed to have made while supporting Nitish Kumar.
His comments were widely reported as a claim that he had orchestrated nine murders to benefit the JD-U leader.
After the political backlash, Singh held a press conference in Patna, saying his remarks had been misinterpreted.
He clarified that he was referring to the killing of nine of his aides after he aligned himself with Nitish Kumar, rather than claiming that he had arranged their murders.
The incident has triggered political reactions, with Manjhi calling for an inquiry and the JD-U leadership saying it is monitoring the matter.
Mokama MLA Anant Singh clarified his controversial remark regarding “nine murders”—a comment made while describing his long-standing association with former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
He noted that he was referring to the killings of nine of his own aides, rather than claiming that he had orchestrated those murders.
This clarification came amid internal tensions within the JD-U surrounding the Bihar Legislative Council elections.
Earlier, Singh had highlighted his own sacrifices and support for Nitish Kumar, while questioning the contributions of JD-U leader Neeraj Kumar.
Speaking to the media in Patna, Singh recounted political events from his time associated with Nitish Kumar—a period dating back to when Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav were allies.
According to the Mokama MLA, Nitish Kumar had helped secure an Assembly election ticket for his (Singh’s) brother by speaking to Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Singh added that he continued to support Nitish Kumar even after the two leaders eventually parted ways.
He said he subsequently left Lalu Prasad’s party to align himself with Nitish Kumar.
Singh said that after he joined forces with Nitish Kumar, he suffered serious personal losses.
He claimed that he was shot at and nine of his aides were killed during that period.
–IANS
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