Patna, July 25: Patna Water Board chairman Ashok Yadav, who was killed in a bomb blast today, hit the headlines last year for allegedly misbehaving with Kashmiri artistes, including women, passing through Bihar on the Himgiri Express.

Ashok Yadav vehemently denied the charge but police declared him an absconder. He was elected as the board chairman even while arrest warrants were pending against him, creating a furore over the working of the state police in the regime of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the party to which he belonged.

He was also a contender for the post of Patna mayor but later withdrew in favour of Mansa Devi, wife of then chief minister Rabri Devi’s brother Prabhunath Yadav. Mansa Devi, however, lost the race and Krishna Murari Yadav was elected.

The water board chairman was said to have been working assiduously to bring about a no-confidence motion against the mayor.

Mansa Devi’s defeat in the mayoral race dealt a big jolt to RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav and Ashok Yadav gained prominence in the party since then. The water board chief was also said to be close to Laloo Prasad’s brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav and was one of the main sponsors of RJD’s rallies in the city.

Ashok Yadav’s mass base in the Patna (central) Assembly segment had been increasing. “He had emerged as a Yadav leader in his own right. Some people did not like his growing popularity and, therefore, resorted to this manner of eliminating him,” one of his supporters said.