Ajay Singh, son of late JD(U) MLA Jagmato Devi, with his wife Kavita. Picture by Akhilesh Kumar Shrivastava

Patna, Sept. 19: All is fair when politics is love and politics is war.

To give the phrase a new dimension, son of Jagmato Devi, the late JD(U) MLA from Daraundha in Siwan, Ajay Singh, chose the nuptial route, read wedding, to enter the battleground, read election.

Jagmato’s son Ajay Singh tied the knot on Saturday despite it being a pitripaksh (inauspicious for any holy ritual for the Hindus) apparently to win a ticket for his bride in the forthcoming by-election for the seat.

The Daraundha seat fell vacant after the death of Jagmato in June this year. Ajay, who is involved in over two dozen cases of murder, kidnapping and extortion in Siwan, married Kavita, a resident of Garkha in Saran district. A postgraduate student of JP University, Chhapra, Kavita’s wedding with 25-year-old Ajay was solemnised at Mahendra Nath Temple under Siswan police station in Siwan.

Around 16 prospective brides had responded to the advertisement for Ajay’s wedding. They were all screened at a posh hotel in Chhapra. However, the clause for the prospective brides was unusual. The bride’s name should be in the voters’ list and she must have a voter’s identity card. Moreover, the bride should be at least 20 years old and a girl hailing from a political family would be given preference, the advertisement read.

Ajay’s friend Devendra said two prospective brides were short-listed. Kavita, whose mother is a mukhiya (village head), was finally selected. “Since the date of filing the nomination papers is knocking at the door, we decided to complete the process as early as possible,” he added.

After the wedding, Kavita said: “If I get an opportunity, I will try to fulfil the dreams of my mother in-law (Jagmato).”

The wedding was solemnised secretly with a select group of family acquaintances and guests present at the occasion, said a close associate of Ajay, who was released from jail on the directive of the Patna High Court only recently. Ajay, an arch-rival of former Siwan MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, has been granted bail on medical ground.

Ajay attributed the reason of his sudden decision to get married to his mentor’s advice. “Bihar ke Raja bole ki shaadi kar lo to ticket de denge (The Raja of Bihar told me to get married first to get an election ticket),” he said, adding that every thing had been done on his (Raja’s) directive.

Sources said the JD(U) has strong reservations on providing ticket to Ajay because of his criminal background. So Ajay has no other option but to marry to ensure ticket of the party for Daraundha Assembly seat. The nomination process for the by-election started today and would continue till September 26, sources said.

Ajay’s mother began her political career in 2005 when she was elected from Raghunathpur constituency during February 2005 Assembly elections as an Independent. She had defeated Kamruddin, father of a criminal Ayub Khan.

After delimitation, Jagmato successfully contested from Daraundha in 2010. Ajay’s father Maleshwar Singh was killed because of political rivalry. He was earlier associated with a senior politician of the region, who is now a minister in the Nitish Kumar government.

Ajay gained notoriety after the murder of Shahabuddin’s sharp shooter Riyazuddin and his accomplice at Siswan in 2004. Riyazuddin was killed when they had gone to eliminate Ajay at his residence at Nandmora village. Earlier, he had killed Babloo Yadav, an RJD worker.