With all the nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections checked during scrutiny on Wednesday, all the five candidates in the fray are set to enter the Upper House without contest.
They include Ram Jethmalani and Misa Bharti of RJD, Sharad Yadav and RCP Singh of JD(U) and Gopal Narayan Singh of BJP.
Gopal Narayan Singh’s candidature for the Rajya Sabha seat baffled not only BJP leaders but also the entire political spectrum. For Singh had never been a heavyweight in the party nor regarded as an active BJP worker. Above all, he is facing no less than 32 criminal cases and none of them is political in nature. In some cases chargesheets have also been filed.
Singh, who once was president of Bihar BJP, has a record of losing elections. He won Assembly election in 1977 from Nokha but lost all the eight elections after that; the last one in 2015 from Nabinagar. But he is a billionaire and as per his own admission, he and his wife Shail Singh jointly own properties worth Rs80 crore. The couple also runs a medical college under the aegis of Deo Mangal Memorial Turst in Rohtas district.
JD(U) spokesperson Sanjay Singh questioned the BJP leadership's wisdom in fielding Singh while calling him "khanan mafia" (mining mafia) and said he was facing a number of criminal cases for violation of forest and environment laws and rules.
However, the BJP leader termed all the charges against him as politically-motivated. "If I am mafia, if I am a culprit, why is the Government scared of taking action. Why don't they arrest me," said Singh and alleged that under a conspiracy he was implicated in false cases.
Interestingly, most of the cases against Gopal Singh under various Sections of Explosive Substance Act, Mines Act, Arms Act and Indian Forest Act were filed during 2011-12 when his party leader Sushil Kumar Modi was Deputy Chief Minister and also the Minister of Forest and Environment.
In 2012, there had been a warrant of arrest against Singh and orders for attachment of his properties had been issued by the competent court. The attachment posters had been pasted on his house. He however escaped and following interference from top leadership of the BJP the cases were brushed under the carpet.
Incidentally in Bihar BJP, Singh had no cosy relationship with Sushil Kumar Modi. For the Rajya Sabha seat the Bihar BJP had recommended Modi's name and it was speculated that after his elevation, Modi could be made a Minister in Narendra Modi Government.
JD(U)'s Sanjay Singh lamented that Sushil Modi was not selected for the Rajya Sabha. "He could have been appointed a Union Minister and that would have been good in the interest of Bihar. He could have worked better than other Union Ministers from Bihar," he said and added that the party which claimed to be champion of probity in the politics selected a "tainted" person like Singh who, he alleged, was involved in a murder case. "PM Narendra Modi in his recent Mann ki Baat said that each Indian in his or her DNA has a feeling of conservation of environment but he selected a person from Bihar for Rajya Sabha facing a number of cases for the violation of forest and environment.