If words like “sher” (lion) and “bakri” (goat) are being tossed around, it must be poll time in Mokama.

Welcome to Bihar’s “land of dons”, where an Assembly bypoll will be held on Thursday. Tucked away in the eastern corner of Patna district, around 90km from the state capital, Mokama has sent many musclemen to the Assembly, Legislative Council and the Lok Sabha for over three decades.

This time, it is a face-off between the wives of two gangsters. The Mokama seat fell vacant after its Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA, Anant Singh alias Chhote Sarkar, lost his membership of the House following conviction and 10-year imprisonment in a case pertaining to the recovery of an AK-47, a hand grenade and ammunition from his ancestral home at Ladma village in nearby Barh constituency.

Anant, considered the topmost don of the area, has fielded his wife Neelam Devi on an RJD ticket. Anant, who belongs to the dominant Bhumihar caste, won the seat four times from 2005. His elder brother Dilip Kumar Singh, a muscleman, represented the constituency in 1990 and 1995.

Anant is also facing several cases of murder, kidnapping, extortion and criminal intimidation.

Neelam has become the ruling Grand Alliance candidate with chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United, the Congress and the Left parties supporting her.

She has some experience in politics, gained while campaigning for her husband in the 2015 Assembly elections. Anant had contested that election from jail as an Independent and won.

The BJP has nominated Sonam Devi, wife of gangster Nalini Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, against Neelam. The results will be declared on November 6.

Lalan also belongs to the Bhumihar caste and has been locked in a rivalry with Anant for the past few decades. Lalan is an accused in several murder cases.

Neelam and Sonam filed their nomination papers the same day, the event turning into a show of strength. While Neelam’s cavalcade had around 3,000 vehicles, over 1,000 vehicles accompanied Sonam when she visited the sub-division headquarters at Barh.

The BJP had contested the seat the last time in 1995. Asked why the party had fielded the wife of a gangster when it talks about probity and the intent to curb crime, the BJP’s Mokama town unit president Roshan Bhardwaj told The Telegraph: “Had the BJP fielded anybody else against Anant Singh’s wife, the people would have labelled the polls as a fight between a sher and a bakri. It would have tilted the balance against us. But now everybody understands that there is going to be a keen contest. Lalan Singh had twice given Anant a run for his money in earlier polls.”

Lalan had contested on an LJP ticket against Anant in 2005 and lost by around 2,000 votes. Sonam contested in 2010 and lost by around 9,000 votes. Lalan tried his hand again in 2015, this time on a Jan Adhikar Party ticket and came fourth.

“It is very difficult to sustain and keep your followers intact if you do not win a couple of times in the polls. While Anant kept winning and growing in power, Lalan kept getting sidelined,” Sanjeev Kumar, a businessman in Mokama, told this newspaper.

With the battle lines drawn, the other dons have chosen their sides. Muscleman Viveka Pehalwan (named so because of his love for wrestling) is supporting Neelam, while Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party leader and former Lok Sabha member Suraj Bhan Singh, another don who represented Mokama as an MLA in 2000, is rooting for Sonam.

Sixteen companies of paramilitary forces, 2,000 Bihar special armed police personnel and 2,000 Bihar police personnel have been deployed for Thursday’s election.

Among the rural populace of Mokama that has a rich harvest of pulses, mustard, chilli and wheat, Anant has the image of a “Robin Hood”. Many locals recall how musclemen, particularly belonging to the Yadav caste, used to steal or forcibly take their crops, specially in the Taal area, until Anant tamed them.

The Taal is a shallow depression spread over one lakh hectares that receives floodwater from the Ganga and remains submerged during the monsoon months till the arrival of winter. Various types of lentils, grams, mustard, wheat and peas are grown on the fertile soil that needs little or no fertiliser.

“Agriculture and cattle rearing have been our mainstay. Anant checked the crop and cattle looters that ruled the roost in the 1990s and early 2000s, especially during Lalu Prasad’s rule. Anant also curbed crime, extortion and harassment of women in Mokama and adjacent Barh. People feel safe because of him, so they vote for him,” said Bhuvaneshwar Prasad, a farmer.

Many others said that as Anant’s clout increased, he began helping people irrespective of their caste or creed.

“There was a time when this area witnessed firing and the deaths of two-three people everyday. Somewhere down the line Anant understood his responsibilities as an elected representative and started helping anybody who approached him for any kind of assistance — financial, social or with government work,” a former Mokama-based journalist, Birendra Kumar, said.

“Anant’s word, phone call or his lieutenants were enough to get things done. He earned people’s goodwill. He gets the votes of the people of all castes and religions. As far as he is concerned, his personality overshadows the political parties,” Birendra added.

Sources said Anant’s main source of income now was the “commission” he charged from civil contractors as “protection money”.

Lalan, on the other hand, evokes fear among a large section of people.

Old-timers recall how Congress leaders and zamindars dominated the politics of Mokama post-Independence. It was they who started using musclemen and gangsters in elections.

“Anant’s elder brother Dilip and another gangster, Dular Chand Yadav, worked for a senior Congress leader and helped him win the Mokama Assembly seat twice. However, Dilip got ambitious, ditched him and entered politics on a then Janata Dal ticket. He became a minister in Lalu’s cabinet. The Congress leader wanted revenge and promoted Suraj Bhan, who won the seat in 2000 as an Independent. But see the outcome. Dons have ruled the seat for the last 32 years,” a senior leader of the Bihar Congress said on the condition of anonymity.

However, Mokama is not all about guns and gangs. The place has cradled a large number of doctors, engineers, businessmen and transporters as well. They rue the dilapidated roads, the lack of proper health and school infrastructure, the dwindling fortunes of the century-old Marwari High School in the town, and the lack of development in agriculture.

BJP spokesperson and doctor Ram Sagar Singh hails from Chhatarpur village in Mokama. His wife, son and several other family members are also doctors based in Delhi.

“The political parties are also responsible for what has happened to Mokama. If a candidate contested against the musclemen and lost, the parties did not repeat him. They should have believed in Bahujan Samajwadi Party stalwart Kanshi Ram, who used to say one should contest the first time to lose, the second time to defeat the opponent and the third time to win the elections,” Ram Sagar said.