Journalism of Courage
Santosh Kumar is a political leader from Bihar who is affiliated with Janata Dal United. He is the incumbent Member of Parliament from Bihar’s Purnia Lok Sabha seat. He was born on February 5, 1976, in Purnia, Bihar, to his parents, Nevilal Vishwash and Ramsakhi Devi. He started his political career after winning the State Assembly elections from the Baisi seat in 2010 on the BJP’s ticket.
He shifted his allegiance to Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United a month before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections after being offered the Purnia Lok Sabha seat. He went on to win the elections in 2014 and then retained it again in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He was one of the names who was proposed for ministerial seats, but JDU decided not to cash his name in, given the limited availability of seats.
He is said to have assisted Awadhesh Mandal, the spouse of Janata Dal United Legislative Assembly member Beema Bharti, in evading Purnia police arrest in 2016. Gangster Mandal wanted in more than a hundred criminal offences, was also charged with involvement in a murder case, for which he later threatened the deceased's wife. It was said that Bharti assisted her husband in escaping in her SUV when Kushwaha was speaking with the police officers.
