Among the many instances of a change of heart that he has had in his over two-decade-long stint as the Chief Minister of Bihar, the release of murder convict Anand Mohan Singh by the Bihar government marks a new low even by Nitish Kumar’s standards. A man who swept to power with the promise of change has today chosen to endorse the very brand of politics that he once challenged.

The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government on Tuesday set free former Member of Parliament Anand Mohan Singh from prison, days after it tweaked a key prison rule that would allow his release along with 26 others. Anand Mohan walked out of Saharsa jail early on Thursday morning.

Also Read: ‘Bahubali’ Anand Mohan Singh, 26 others walk free from jail as Nitish govt tweaks rule

On April 10, the Bihar government changed the Prison Manual 2012, dropping the provision that barred anyone accused of the “murder of a public servant on duty” from premature release. The tweak allowed the Law department to step in and include Anand Mohan in the list of 27 inmates to be freed after serving 14 years’ life imprisonment for murder and other heinous crimes.

Anand Mohan Singh was convicted in 2007 in the murder of 1985-batch IAS officer and then District Magistrate of Gopalganj, G Krishnaiah, in 1994. A trial court in Patna awarded him the death penalty in 2007, a sentence that was commuted to life imprisonment by the Patna High Court in 2008. He has been lodged in Saharsa jail since his conviction.

Notably, Mohan’s conviction which came under the second tenure of the Nitish Kumar government in 2007 — he first took oath as CM in 2000 but his term only lasted a week — was seen as a testament to the CM’s promise of bringing an end to ‘gundaraj’ that was thriving in the state under his predecessor.

Interestingly, according to The Indian Express, when Anand Mohan’s death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment by the Patna High Court, and later upheld by the Supreme Court, the Bihar government helmed by Nitish opposed it and sought maximum punishment for the ‘bahubali’ leader.

On July 10, 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the life sentence awarded to Anand Mohan Singh. While upholding the life term, a bench headed by Justice AK Patnaik also dismissed Bihar government’s appeal for enhancing Singh’s sentence to death penalty and challenging the acquittal of other accused in the case.

“We do not find any merit in either the appeal of A-1 (Anand Mohan Singh) or the appeals of the State and we, accordingly, dismiss all the criminal appeals,” the bench said.

Also Read: Who is Anand Mohan Singh, murder convict and former MP freed from jail in Bihar?

An influential Rajput figure, Singh has the chips in his favour for now. With elections approaching, the Janata Dal (United) as well as its alliance partner the Rashtriya Janata Dal see Singh as a factor that could potentially benefit them. With both parties now looking to expand their base beyond the SCs, STs and OBCs. With an eye on upper caste votes, Singh fits right in.

For Nitish Kumar though, his choice to honour political appeasement over principle may prove electorally beneficial in the short run. Devoid of any moral high ground, Nitish has often been criticised as a leader who would go to any lengths to cling to power.

He may just have proven them right!