Pradeep Mahto alias Pradeep Kumar is a former

Member of Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several national ...

for the year 2005 and 2010 from the Warisaliganj (Vidhan Sabha constituency) of the

Nawada Nawada is a town and a municipality in Bihar, India. It is also the Headquarters of the Nawada district. It is situated on both sides of the Khuri River at 24º 53’ N and 85º 33’ E. The name evolved from Nau-abad, meaning the new town. ...

region of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. Mahto is a nephew and former associate of Ashok Mahto, the gangster who was indulged in a long drawn battle with Akhilesh Singh, another gangster of the region. The Mahto and Singh gang were arranged on the

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

lines and proclaimed themselves as the group serving the interest of

Kurmi Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar and Jharkhand. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, ...

and

Bhumihar Bhumihar, also locally called Bhuinhar and Babhan, a Hindu Indian caste system, caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila (region), Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya ...

community of the region respectively.

Biography

Mahto was born to Laxmi Mahto and has remained associated with his uncle's gang in initial years of life. After the arrest of Ashok Mahto he became the de facto leader of the faction which was associated with the several killings in the region particularly of upper-caste people and supporters of Akhilesh Singh. In 2000 Aruna Devi, the wife of Akhilesh Singh was elected as the

from the Warisaliganj. In 2005 she again contested the election from the same seat but this time on the symbol of

Lok Janshakti Party The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP, ) was a state political party mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The party was formed in 2000 when Ram Vilas Paswan split from Janata Dal. The party had a considerable following amongst Dalits in Bihar. ...

. Aruna though won in February but in the by polls held in October in the same year, she lost to Pradeep Mahto, who became the MLA for the first time for a period of five years. Mahto had contested against her as

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate. In 2010

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a Social democracy, social-democratic and secular List of political parties in India, Indian political party, rooted mainly in East India, eastern and Northeast India, ...

allotted its symbol to the Mahto from the Warisaliganj and he emerged victorious once again; but this time as a candidate of JD(U). His association with JD (U) has a long history, and he has served as the district president of the party for

, for a number of times. Mahto has been facing several criminal charges including those of murder. Pradeep's political career was shaken, when in 2015, Aruna Devi defeated him in the Assembly Election as the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

candidate. In 2020 Pradeep though himself being unable to contest the assembly elections due to his conviction in one of the case launched his wife as independent candidate from Warisaliganj but she lost to Aruna once again. Mahto was also suspected to be the person behind 2001 ''Nawada Jail break'' case, in which, he surrendered in the court in the following years, though until then, he managed to get the ticket from JD (U). In the famous Jail break case, he was accused of facilitating the escape of his uncle Ashok Mahto.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahto, Pradeep Living people People from Nawada district Bihar MLAs 2005–2010 Bihar MLAs 2010–2015 Criminals from Bihar Year of birth missing (living people) Janata Dal (United) politicians