An Election In The Shadow Of Shahabuddin's Legacy — Ground Report From Bihar's Siwan

Since Zee5 released its movie, Rangbaaz: Darr Ki Raajneeti, Mohammad Shahabuddin has become the synonym for Siwan. ‘Saheb', 'MP Saheb', 'Vikas Purush' (man of development) are some of the titles he is referred to with.

Swarajya visited his native village, Partappur. It was amongst the most developed ones in Siwan.

In Partappur, you will see wide and clean roads, and big houses — most of them made of bricks, and multiple schools for children to study. A hospital is within five kilometres of the village and more than 20 vehicles — ranging from e-rickshaw to SUVs are available on one call. In the two wheeler segment, a Bullet can easily be seen traversing through the village.

It has been 15 years since Shahabuddin was ousted from the Lok Sabha constituency, but people of his village still remember him. “What MP Saheb did during his time, no one could and no one would do,” said Osihir Yadav, a truck driver. He remembers an incident when people in Nagpur had helped him when he told them that he belonged to Shahabuddin’s village.

When asked whether there is any communal tension, Osihir and his co-villager Govind Yadav, an e-rickshaw driver, deny any such stress in the village. “Both Hindus and Muslims live here in peace, in fact Hindus had played a key role in MP Saheb’s rise,” said Osihir.

Osihir was referring to support extended by the so-called 'upper' castes — Bhumihars, Rajputs and Brahmins to Shahabuddin during his heydays.

These powerful caste groups were looking for someone to put up a fight against the increasing power of the Naxalite movement. It was a win-win for these communities and for Shahabuddin. The communities' lands were protected while Shahabuddin’s clout and respect (fear?) kept increasing.

With the fortunes he made, Shahabuddin went on an image makeover mission. He helped people, especially underprivileged Hindus.

Ashok Ram, a 73-year old man claiming to have hugged Shahbuddin said, “Once we wanted to create a colony of 25 people. We had a bit less money, but Saheb called the Block Development Officer (BDO) and asked him to arrange everything for us. It is due to Saheb that I sat in the government vehicle and roamed with him”.

On criminal charges and convictions by the court, there is a sentiment among a section of Siwan's population that he was wrongly held. According to them, Shahabuddin was innocent and it was his minions who used to run extortion rackets and commit other crimes in his name.

“Muslim society is well connected and anyone can claim that he/she is one’s relative. That is how his name got infamous,” said a person sitting on main chowk in Partappur.

A person going by the name of Sarpanch (nickname) however does not agree. “They are less educated people and easily gullible, they do not know the details,” said Sarpanch. When asked about the details, he chose loyalty to his village over truth.

Shahabuddin’s home, the place from which he ran his fiefdom is now majorly used as a recreational centre for children. Sabhya Alam, one of his neighbours, said that there was a time when Tejashwi and Tej Pratap Yadav used to visit the place, but now it looks more like a ruin.

A sharp reader of politics and a UPSC aspirant, Sabhya feels that it was Lalu Yadav who cheated Shahabuddin, otherwise the latter would be alive today and Tejashwi Yadav would be learning from him.

It raises the question of whether this is the typical strategy of every strongman: to establish a stronghold by assuming the role of a Robin Hood for the local population, and subsequently pursue own agendas.

Naturally, the neighbours are aware of the 2001 conflict between the police and Shahabuddin's men, as well as the alleged drowning of two brothers before their murder in Partappur. It is nobody's guess why they do not want to speak on these.

But they do speak on their poor economic condition. Most of the people in Partappur village, especially Muslims, migrate to Arab countries for livelihood. This was the case even during Shahabuddin’s time.

Parvez Alam lives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and is a truck driver there.

While in the village, he would be earning Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, the same effort in Riyadh fetches him Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000.

Despite that, he was back home after six long years.

“What can I do? With around six lakhs per year, I have to save something to come back. Can’t do it, so don’t come. No one understands a man’s sacrifice,” said Alam. He is determined to give his children a good education so that they do not have to remain separate from their family.

Another reason why Alam does not want his kids to go to Arab countries is a new change in social order. Liberal policies like private rooms, phones, TVs for children are somethings he does not like. According to Alam, most Pakistanis and Bangladeshis also feel the same.

Few kilometres away from Partappur lies Ziradei, a village whose son’s legacy is absolutely undisputed. It gave India its iconic freedom fighter and first president — Rajendra Prasad, locally known as Rajendra Babu.

None of his family members reside in the village. Rajendra Babu’s house is now protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The organisation has taken due care in maintaining balance between preserving the originality of the place and modernisation.

For their income, the people of Ziradei rely on manual labour mainly. Their children are getting education and learning vocational skills.

Mukesh Kumar Upadhyay, a young entrepreneur runs one of these vocational skills institutes — named after Rajendra Babu himself. He regularly connects with both state and central ministries and also gives them reports.

Upadhyay’s institute trains more than 400 children in computers every year. At the end of six-months course, students are awarded with Diploma in Computer Application (DCA) degree. After a DCA certification, they need to be 'placed'.

This is where the problem begins.

Upadhyay is asked by the government to ensure all children have a job upon graduation. However, there are just not enough companies in Bihar to take in every child from the institution. Resultantly, the sword of government crackdown is always above his head.

Even 'job fairs' don't seem to help.

In these fairs, only companies from Haryana and Punjab come looking for cheap labour, mostly for the manufacturing sector. This often means manual labour. These students are not inclined towards it.

“In Haryana, Punjab, they ask to do manual labour as if we were illiterate. The payment is merely Rs 12,000-Rs 15,000. How can they sustain there?” asks Upadhyay.

Most of these students eventually find employment in malls, hospitals — mostly on billing counters. But there is a limit to which Upadhyay can ensure this on his own. He and others like him need support from both government and civil society.

Former election strategist Prashant Kishor’s Youth Club had approached him with few promises, but it has been more than a year and apparently nothing has moved forward till the time of writing.

Slowly but steadily, unemployment is becoming a feature of Siwan.

With time, Siwan has come to standstill in matters of development. Areas located a bit away from the city do not even have proper roads.

In three villages of Panchrukhi Gram Panchayat, people are thinking of boycotting the elections in 2024.

For this purpose, they regularly hold meetings under a huge tree. The poor state of the roads is the reason cited behind it. They are also miffed at current MP Kavita Singh and the woman hoping to replace her, Vijay Laxmi Kushwaha.

“Kavita married during Pitri Paksha and Kharmash. These people leave behind their sanskars for politics,” said Mehto chacha.

Kavita Singh’s candidature and victory in 2019 is attributed to her getting a Janata Dal (United) or (JD(U)) ticket. Her husband Ajay Singh held the position of the state chief of the Hindu Yuva Vahini — a Hindu youth religious group incorporated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

When Singh asked for a ticket, Nitish Kumar refused, due to criminal cases against him. By marrying Kavita Singh in a hurry, he ensured that the seat remained in his home.

The JD(U) ticket this time has gone to Vijay Laxmi Kushwaha, wife of Ramesh Kushwaha, current JD(U) member and former member of Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (CPIMLL).

Ramesh is also one of the reasons people, especially the 'forward' castes, are not happy with JD(U). He is an accused in the Shivji Dubey murder case.

Individuals in their 40s and 50s still recall his days with the CPIMLL and openly accuse him of perpetrating violence against members of the 'forward' castes, particularly Brahmins.

"He took Brahmins and sliced their neck with sword, knife or any sharp object," said a person from the Brahmin community on the condition of anonymity. On the other hand, they do not like Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) either.

Devoid of options, many of them are turning to Shahabuddin's family. After his death in 2021, this is the first election that his wife Hena Shahab will be contesting without him. She has decided to contest as an Independent.

There is electoral logic behind it.

The Siwan constituency has a considerable Muslim population. It has approximately 3 lakh Muslim, 2.5 lakh Yadav, 1.25 lakh Kushwaha and around 80,000 Sahni voters. Apart from this, there are about 4 lakh 'upper' caste and 2.5 lakh Extremely Backward Class (EBC) voters.

In 2009, 2014 and 2019, Shahab relied on the traditional Muslim Yadav (M-Y) combination offered to her by RJD. However, it was not successful. Local experts believe that Yadavs never rallied behind her because Lalu Yadav did not want Shahabuddin to grow in stature.

Shahab’s victory would have meant a victory for Shahabuddin and a challenge to Lalu within the RJD. Shahabuddin was the Muslim face of the famous M-Y combination of the party.

Amid rumours of RJD not offering her ticket, Hena decided to go solo. With that decision, her campaign style saw a remarkable change.

During her nomination, the majority of her supporters were Hindus. She even participated in kanya poojan ceremony.

Videos of former members of the now-defunct Hindu Yuva Vahini supporting Hena are being widely circulated. This alliance is driven by their lack of trust in the JD(U) candidate. For political observers, it is unusual to see this phenomenon.

It will be interesting to see how successful it can be. For average folks, Hena’s success would mean a readymade launchpad for the political career of her son, Osama Shahab. The problem with Osama is that he is not known for maintaining his composure during tense moments. Many have seen him losing his cool and quarrelling with people on petty issues.

“We are businessmen and we need peace. If Hena Shahab wins, the unemployed Muslim youth will take up arms and threaten everyone for extortion in her name. Her son Osama will be the lynchpin in it,” said Satyadev Sahu, a man in his 60s who had voted for Shahabuddin in past.

Dwarka Prasad, a sweet seller in Masjid Chowk area also echoes the same sentiment. Remembering Shahabuddin’s time, he said that it was tough for businesses to make profit. “Though he (Shahbuddin) used to do it for people, are we not his people?” asks Prasad.

Prasad feels that during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure law and order became better and doing business became easier. “We will vote for BJP, I mean whoever Modi ji sent here,” added Prasad.

The third candidate in fray is Awadh Bihari Chaudhary of RJD. Expectedly, he is also a Yadav, but someone who enjoyed a clean image, even during the infamous ‘jungle raj’ of 90s. He was the education minister in the Rabri Devi cabinet and also served as speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

Currently, he is member of legislative assembly (MLA) from Siwan Vidhan Sabha constituency, a seat which he previously held for 25 consecutive years between 1985 and 2010. “It is a big thing that despite aligning with Shahabuddin his image remained clean,” said Sanjay Singh.

However, the sentiments on the ground indicate that people have little confidence in him, due to concerns about his age.

“Do not know why he has come to get tainted (lose) in this election. At this age, he won’t be able to do the work of an MP,” said Kalinder Shah.

Another problem for Choudhary is an Independent candidate called, Jeevan Yadav.

Yadav is a local philanthropist who has donated money for noble causes, including eye surgeries, hospitals among others. Roaming around Siwan, Swarajya found that his campaign vehicle moved more frequently than that of Choudhary.

His campaign has been high profile, beginning from the nomination itself. During nomination, elephants and horses were present. Bhojpuri actor Khesari Lal Yadav was also present as a crowd puller.

Despite these efforts, Jeevan seems to use this election as a testing ground for 2025 assembly elections. A respectable vote share will strengthen his candidature for next year. The Bhagwa colour is second-most seen colour in his campaigns, after trademark white kurta of course.

Jeevan is expected to eat into Yadav vote share of Choudhary.

On a side note, Siwan also produced India's most notorious thug who had reportedly 'sold' the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and the Parliament House of India.

From Rajendra Prasad to thieves and crooks, the spectrum of popular figures from Siwan is wide.

The eventual winner in this seat will have to take the final call about whose legacy they want to continue.

This report is part of Swarajya's 50 Ground Stories Project - an attempt to throw light on themes and topics that are often overlooked or looked down. You can support this initiative by sponsoring as little as Rs 2,999/-. Click here for more details.