Ravindra Singh also known as Ravindra Singh Kushwaha is an Indian politician based in Bihar, who was elected to Bihar Legislative Assembly twice from Arwal Assembly constituency. Singh was a member of Janata Dal and later became a member of

Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: ''National People's Party'') is an Indian political party, based in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has tradit ...

. He is considered as one of the close accomplice of former Bihar Chief Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav. Singh hails from communist background and before joining politics, he was a member of armed naxalite organisations active in the Bihar's red corridor.

Life

Singh was born to Hardayal Singh and spent later part of his life in Patna at his residence near Jagdeo Path. He is a member of Kushwaha (

Koeri The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According ...

) caste of Bihar. Before moving to Patna, he was an active Maoist. Singh was born in a prosperous farmer family, which owned 4.32

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

land in Aurangabad district of Bihar, besides residential land in Aurangabad. He took part in insurgencies conducted by several naxal organisations active in the state of Bihar, against the landlords. In the course of violence between the landlords and the naxal foot soldiers, he had to remain underground for 13 to 14 years to escape imprisonment. During this period, his house was raided 135 times and his ancestral property was attached by the police. He was discovered by Lalu Prasad Yadav in 1990s and all the cases pending against him were dropped in a supervision report, after Yadav assumed the premiership of the state. In 1994, District police gave him clean chit in all the cases lodged against him. In his election affidavit submitted to

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...

, he admitted ownership of weapons, which included a revolver and a rifle. He married Usha Saran, with whom he had two sons, Gaurav and Shashikant Prabhakar. Singh was brought into politics by Lalu Prasad Yadav, who first made him a candidate of Janata Dal in 1995 from Arwal Assembly constituency. In 2015, he was again made a candidate of

from Arwal constituency and he defeated Chitranjan Kumar of Bharatiya Janata Party. He got 55,295 votes in this election, with Kumar and CPI-ML candidate Mahanand Singh finishing in second and third spot respectively. In 2023, his younger son Gaurav alias Diwakar was shot dead near Hichhan Bigha village in Aurangabad district of Bihar. Gaurav owned a poultry farm in the village and used to reside at his ancestral village. Gaurav had contested Bihar Assembly elections in 2020 as an independent candidate from Arwal constituency.

References

{{Reflist Bihar MLAs 1995–2000 Bihar MLAs 2015–2020 People from Arwal district People from Bihar Rashtriya Janata Dal politicians Indian communists Janata Dal politicians Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Indian politicians