THE MISSUS CARD

Bihar's bahubalis muscle their way into the poll arena, mostly via their wives

- Amitabh Srivastava

Never did a bride get a better wedding gift as Kumari Anita did on April 9. The newly-wedded wife of convicted felon Ashok Mahto was given the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ticket for the Munger Lok Sabha seat, where she will be taking on the Janata Dal (United)'s erstwhile president Rajiv Ranjan, a.k.a. Lalan Singh, come May 13.

Mahto married Anita on March 19, just three days after the Election Commission declared the poll dates. Released from jail last year after 17 years, Mahto's exploits-that include a high-profile jailbreak in 2002 and the alleged murder of then MP Rajo Singh in 2005 - are said to have inspired the Netflix series, Khakee: The Bihar Chapter. Now out of jail, the bahubali of Munger was looking to reinvent himself in politics, except that poll regulations bar him from contesting personally for six years. Hence the quick wedding and the equally quick bestowal of ticket on the missus.