Warisaliganj seat: RJD fields Anita Devi, wife of gangster Ashok Mahto, against BJP's Aruna Devi

Patna, Oct 18 (IANS) The Warisliganj Assembly seat in Nawada district is set to witness one of the most dramatic contests of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections — a fresh chapter in the decades-long rivalry between two powerful political families.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav have reposed faith in Anita Devi, wife of strongman Ashok Mahto, by fielding her from Warisliganj.

Anita Devi, who contested the Lok Sabha election 2024 from Munger against Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and suffered a heavy defeat, has once again received the RJD symbol.

According to party sources, Anita Devi was given the ticket late Thursday night at Rabri Devi’s residence, where Tejashwi personally handed her the party symbol.

She will take on Aruna Devi, the sitting MLA and BJP candidate from the NDA, who is also the wife of another influential strongman, Akhilesh Singh.

Ashok Mahto, who was released from prison in December 2023 after spending 17 years behind bars in connection with a Nawada jailbreak case, has been campaigning actively in the region.

Though barred from contesting elections due to his conviction, he has been mobilising support for his wife for several weeks.

The rivalry between Ashok Mahto and Akhilesh Singh has dominated the politics of the Warisliganj-Nawada-Nalanda belt for nearly three decades. What began as a battle for caste and area dominance in the 1990s gradually evolved into a political war between their families.

Warisliganj’s electoral history reflects this intense competition.

In 2000, Aruna Devi first won the seat on a JD(U) ticket. In 2005, Pradeep Mahto, a close aide of Ashok Mahto, entered the fray, losing the February election but defeating Aruna Devi in the October re-election.

Pradeep Mahto retained the seat in 2010, but Aruna Devi returned to victory in 2015 and consolidated her position in 2020, winning on a BJP ticket by over 25,000 votes against RJD’s Aarti Singh.

Now, the stage is set for another high-stakes showdown — this time between the wives of the two rival strongmen.

Both Anita Devi and Aruna Devi are expected to rely heavily on the traditional support bases built by their husbands.

Political observers believe this contest will not only decide the future of Warisliganj but also serve as a litmus test for RJD’s strategy of embracing muscle power to challenge the NDA’s hold in southern Bihar.

--IANS

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