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Journalism of Courage
It was 1982 when “Bandit King” Malkhan Singh emerged from his stronghold in the beehads (ravines) of Bhind and surrendered to the Congress government, swearing in front of 30,000 people that he was done with a life of crime.
Now, more than 40 years later, the Congress has tasked 80-year-old Singh with “besieging the strongholds of the BJP” in Bhind in the Assembly elections later this year. The former BJP member joined the party on Wednesday.
Bhind is a part of Bundelkhand, which has 26 Assembly seats. In 2013, the BJP won 20 constituencies and the Congress six. In 2018, the Congress improved its tally to 10 while the BJP’s seat count came down to 14. The Congress last week hosted Bageshwar Dham’s head priest Dhirendra Shastri in the village of Simariya in Chhindwara district. Chhindwara is the pocket borough of state Congress president Kamal Nath. The Congress is courting Shastri because he has a sizable following in Bundelkhand and significant social media reach.
After joining the Congress, Malkhan Singh told The Indian Express, “I was tired of the injustice in the BJP government … I grew angry over the deteriorating law-and-order situation every day. I could not tolerate it. There are so many atrocities, they have not spared anyone. There is no politician who is listening. There are rapes every day and our women are unable to go to fields. If no one is listening, then fine, I will now destroy you. I picked up the gun because of atrocities. Years later, the BJP is doing the same kind of atrocities.”
Former Chief Minister and state Congress president Kamal Nath welcomed Singh to the party. The former dacoit turned up at the event sporting his trademark handlebar moustache and promised to “sweep away the BJP”.
Referring to Singh as a protector of Madhya Pradesh, Nath said, “He has taken decisions as a protector of the future of Madhya Pradesh. I welcome him to the party. I request you to go to the state and tell them the truth. If you stand by the truth, then Madhya Pradesh’s future will be protected.”
Nath said that Singh, during his time in the BJP, experienced that the ruling party had “no challenger when it comes to corruption, injustice and atrocities”.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday tweeted a video with stills of Singh during his early days as a dacoit. “There was a time when dacoits and the government were together in Madhya Pradesh. But today, there is only and only rule of law in Madhya Pradesh,” he tweeted.
In response, Nath tweeted, “Sir, today is the era when thieves, thieves, dacoits, rapists, murderers, all kinds of mafia, corrupt and rioters are all in BJP or are bathing in the holy Ganga by joining BJP. Yes, this is your definition of the rule of law in MP.”
Singh became a dacoit after getting embroiled in a dispute with an influential villager over land belonging to a Ram Janaki temple. This led to a police case being registered against him.
Singh and his gang were the most feared in the Chambal region and had a total of 94 police cases – 18 dacoity cases, 28 cases of kidnapping, 19 cases of attempt to murder and 17 murder cases – lodged against them. When his surrender was negotiated, Singh had a Rs 70,000 bounty on his head. He eventually settled down in Guna district with his wife, Lalita Rajput, who was elected sarpanch in 2022.
Following his surrender, several political parties reached out to Singh and he even contested the 1996 Assembly by-election in Bhind on a Samajwadi Party ticket but ended up losing.
Singh went on to campaign for the BJP in the 2013 Assembly elections and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with another former dacoit, Mohar Singh. The BJP banked on their influence in the Bundelkhand region to sway voters.
Singh said he did not participate in Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s campaign “out of respect” during his stint with the BJP. “Maharaj ji was a respectful figure those days. When I met him last, he asked me to join the Congress and leave the BJP. Look how the tables have turned. He has joined the BJP. I am not a VIP leader, I am a common man,” he said.
The former dacoit grew bitter in the BJP over not being given any positions of importance. State BJP spokesperson Dr Hitesh Bajpai said, “Malkhan is not a public leader. He has a retired life. He has got the basic instinct that matches Congress. Good luck. He has never been a leader in a prime position in the BJP. He joined as a common man. We never preferred him, he did not gel with the BJP.”
Singh said MP’s Leader of Opposition Govind Singh got him to join the Congress. “Govind Singh ji had asked me to join the party. He told me about Kamal Nath. I think Kamal Nath has a clean image. He at least won’t be like this government, which gives dhotis, bindis, and slippers as handouts. Why don’t you make homes, give jobs and conduct the marriages of our daughters?” said the former BJP member.
When asked what role Singh would play in the party, state Congress spokesperson K K Mishra said, “We are not thinking about strategy right now. We are going to besiege BJP strongholds in Bhind-Morena. Everything is fair in love and war.”
The BSP’s Bhind MLA Sanjeev Kushwaha said Malkhan Singh won’t make an impact in the elections. “When elections come, these things happen. People come and go. Malkhan Singh won’t have an impact. He is not a political person.”
