In This Bihar Seat, A Dead Don's Reign Of Terror Shadows The Poll Fight

Osama Shahab, the RJD candidate in Raghunathpur constituency of Bihar's Siwan district, does not speak much during rallies. He doesn't need to. His name is his biggest poll slogan.

Shahab is the son of former Siwan MP and bahubali (strongman), late Mohammad Shahabuddin. Convicted in multiple cases, including a double murder, Shahabuddin died in 2021 due to COVID-19-related complications. After serving four terms as an MP, Shahabuddin was disqualified from contesting elections owing to his conviction in a criminal case. But even if he was not in the fray, his shadow loomed large during every election.

This is the first Assembly election in Bihar following the don's death. And his son, Osama, is the candidate. The ruling NDA has used Osama's choice to accuse the RJD of encouraging criminalisation in politics. It has also reminded the people of the situation in Siwan when Shahabuddin's influence was at its peak. BJP leaders have also said that the RJD-Congress-led Mahagathbandhan plans to bring Jungle Raj back in Bihar. The RJD, however, has still chosen him as its candidate. In fact, RJD's Hari Shankar Yadav, who won Raghunathpur in 2015 and 2020, vacated the seat for Shahab.

The Raghunathpur Battle

Shahab went to London for his studies and holds a law degree. According to his election affidavit, he has been charged with multiple criminal cases, including attempted murder, but there have been no convictions yet.

The Raghunathpur seat has drawn high-profile campaigners from both sides, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his arch-rival and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Shahabuddin never contested an election for the Raghunathpur Assembly seat, although he represented the neighbouring Ziradei.

Raghunathpur has approximately 68,000 Muslim voters, 34,000 voters from the scheduled castes, 31,000 from the Rajput community and 28,000 from the Yadav community. Muslims and Yadavs comprise key support bases for RJD and this may give Shahab an edge in the election.

His key rival, however, is confident. JDU candidate Vikash Singh said, "If he wins, he will distribute (katta) guns. I am talking about pens." Raghunathpur votes tomorrow in the first phase of the polls. 

Shahabuddin's Reign Of Terror

While the JDU candidate calls the election a contest between gun and pen, the late Shahabuddin did not fit into this binary. The don with a doctorate was first named in a criminal case when he was 19. Over the years, the list of crimes grew longer and he was declared a history sheeter.

His first step into politics was joining the RJD's youth wing, and he won his first election in the 1990 state polls, repeating the victory in 1995 before starting his Lok Sabha stint.

Among the most dreaded crimes his name came up in was the murder of former JNU students' union president Chandrashekar Prasad, although his role was never established.

But one horrific crime he was convicted of was the 2004 double murder in which two brothers, Satish and Girish, were given an "acid bath" because they refused to pay extortion money to Shahabuddin's henchmen. The third brother, Rajiv, was the eyewitness to the gruesome crime but was shot dead before he could testify in court.

Shahabuddin was sentenced to life imprisonment, and this verdict was upheld in the Supreme Court. Amid concerns that he may influence the trial in cases against him, he was moved to Tihar Jail, where he died.