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Prabhunath Singh, once a powerful Saran MP, remains influential in Bihar’s political folklore despite his 2023 conviction for a 1995 murder
Today, the once-feared Prabhunath Singh languishes behind the high walls of Hazaribagh Central Jail. (News18 Hindi)
As Bihar’s political temperature soars ahead of the 2025 state Assembly elections, forgotten tales buried in the dust of time are resurfacing like bubbles in a monsoon pond. And once again, amid murmurs in village courtyards and loud debates at tea stalls, the name of Prabhunath Singh, the once-dreaded Saran MP, is echoing across the state landscape.
Between 1990 and 2000, Prabhunath Singh wasn’t merely a politician; he was a phenomenon. Revered as the “Sher of Saran” and hailed as the “Saviour of Rajputs”, he commanded an iron grip over Rajput votes across Chhapra, Masrakh, Maharajganj, and Gopalganj. His word was law, and his endorsement was said to guarantee victory. Even stalwarts like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, and George Fernandes knew better than to ignore him. He was dubbed “Chhapra’s CM”, an unofficial crown for a man who ruled not from the secretariat but from the streets.
But there was a time when even the lion had to flee.
A chilling tale from the 90s – part rumour, part oral folklore – continues to intrigue political Bihar. According to journalist Kanhaiya Bhelari, there was a moment when the state apparatus, allegedly on the orders of the Lalu Yadav regime, nearly orchestrated an encounter to eliminate Prabhunath Singh. The rift between Lalu and Prabhunath had widened, especially after the latter joined forces with another Rajput strongman, Anand Mohan, to float the Bihar People’s Party. This move threatened to consolidate Rajput votes away from Lalu’s core Yadav-Muslim base.
As the story goes, one night intelligence chatter indicated that an “encounter” was imminent. Prabhunath, sensing the gravity, took refuge in the house of a sitting judge. When the police convoy arrived, it reportedly turned back without firing a shot. No official records ever confirmed the plot, and no court ever ruled on it, but in Bihar’s political folklore, this tale endures – half-truth, half-legend, fully unforgettable.
Prabhunath Singh’s hold over his community was absolute. “If Prabhu gives the ticket, the result is a formality” – this adage defined his era. His name evoked awe and fear in equal measure. Weddings would hush, processions would reroute, and silence would descend on gatherings when his motorcade passed by.
One such anecdote involves a wedding at an MLA flat in Patna. A loud commotion by the wedding procession was mistaken for a bomb blast. Panic spread, only to be replaced by nervous laughter. But the moment became emblematic of how the very mention of Prabhunath could stir alarm.
In 2009, Singh found himself in hot water again; this time for publicly threatening an IAS officer with the chilling words, “Kafan khareed lijiye, chunaav rokiyega toh… (Buy a shroud…)” in case the officer dared to interfere in the elections. The video of that moment went viral, reinforcing his persona as both satirist and strongman.
And then came 2014. Defeated in the Lok Sabha polls, Prabhunath sneered, “I’m not sad about losing. I am sad about losing to a goat…” It was vintage Prabhunath – biting, brutal, and never apologetic.
Today, the once-feared Prabhunath languishes behind the high walls of Hazaribagh Central Jail. In 2023, the Supreme Court convicted him in the murder of Ashok Singh during the 1995 Masrakh elections, a case where he was initially acquitted before the judgment was overturned decades later.
Though incarcerated, his political shadow still looms large. His brother, Kedar Nath Singh, serves as an MLA from Baniyapur. In 2024, his son Randhir Singh briefly made headlines for quitting the RJD and announcing an independent run, though he ultimately didn’t contest.
Yet in the current political churn of Bihar, even the silence of Prabhunath Singh speaks volumes.
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