Sudhakar Singh: RJD's star player, but where is the team applause?

Imagine being an accomplished all-rounder competing against the best cricket teams in the world. Every time you take a wicket or hit a six, the stadium erupts in applause.

Commentators praise your performance, umpires acknowledge your excellence and even the opposition appreciates your shots and deliveries.

Yet your own teammates remain silent, offering neither a word of encouragement nor a moment of shared celebration.

That seems to capture the predicament of Sudhakar Singh, the outspoken RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) MP from Bihar's Buxar. Despite consistently raising some of Bihar's most pressing issues — from alleged forcible land acquisition and farmers' demands for fair prices to government corruption and police accountability — he appears to receive little public backing from his own party colleagues.

In recent weeks, Singh has put the conduct of a senior IPS officer firmly in the spotlight, raising questions over the alleged fake encounter of Bharat Tiwari in Bilauti, Ara.

A few days ago, he held a press conference demanding an investigation into the assets of DG (operations) Kundan Krishnan, alleging that the IPS officer had amassed properties worth more than Rs 100 crore during his service. The allegations are yet to be investigated, but they have already caused considerable unease within the government.

Several senior Bihar bureaucrats, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Singh is taken seriously by senior IAS and IPS officers because he comes thoroughly prepared for his press conferences and backs his questions with documents.

His interventions have repeatedly put the Samrat Choudhary government on the defensive. Even a senior IAS officer has had to face pointed questions from Singh over allegations backed by documentary material.

Both Nitish Kumar and Samrat Choudhary have ordered inquiries or intervened in matters he has raised — an unusual acknowledgment of the impact of an Opposition legislator's interventions in Bihar.

Yet the response within his own party presents a striking contrast. Singh has emerged as a prominent voice questioning those in power, but his colleagues have been conspicuous by their public silence. He is, after all, an elected representative answerable to the people of Buxar. But sources say not everyone within the RJD is comfortable with his propensity to call a spade a spade, and to do so forcefully.

Whether the issue is alleged forcible land acquisition, farmers' rights, corruption or government accountability, Singh has consistently sought to bring public grievances into the political debate. What remains conspicuously absent is a comparable show of support from his party.

A review of the social media profiles of several prominent RJD leaders reveals little public acknowledgment of the issues he has raised. Those whose profiles were reviewed include Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Yadav and Manoj Jha; MLCs Sunil Singh and Abdul Bari Siddiqui; Lok Sabha MP Abhay Kushwaha; MLAs Gautam Krishna and Ranvijay Sahu; and party spokespersons Kanchana Yadav and Priyanka Bharti.

Despite their continued activity on social media, none appeared, in the profiles reviewed, to have publicly endorsed Singh's interventions or lent their voice to the issues he has raised.

There was also little visible solidarity from fellow RJD leaders when Singh was detained by police in Nawada during a farmers' protest. Nor was there any prominent public show of support when an FIR was lodged against him, accusing him of dacoity and attempt to murder during a farmers' rally in Motihari, East Champaran.

This silence is particularly striking because the issues Singh raises should strengthen the RJD's own pro-people positioning and reinforce the political arguments advanced by its leader, Tejashwi Yadav.

Public silence does not necessarily establish private disagreement. But it leaves an obvious question unanswered: why does a leader whose interventions command attention within the government appear to struggle for acknowledgment within his own political team?

Bihar watchers believe Sudhakar Singh may well be the RJD's most valuable player — taking on difficult opponents, raising consequential questions and keeping the government under pressure.

Yet, whether he looks towards the dressing room or towards his teammates on the field, the applause for his sustained efforts and political heroics still seems to be missing.