Patna: The Shahabuddin family has rejoined the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), with the party positioning Osama, son of the late Mohammad Shahabuddin, as a potential candidate for the Raghunathpur constituency in the upcoming 2025 Bihar assembly elections. This move is seen as a strategic effort by RJD leaders Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav to consolidate Muslim voters in the region, while simultaneously countering the political presence of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj party, which has been appealing to Muslim voters.
Though Osama’s candidacy has not been officially announced, party insiders suggest that RJD has already made up its mind to field him from Raghunathpur, where Shahabuddin’s home village of Pratappur is located. Currently, the RJD holds the seat, represented by MLA Harishankar Yadav, who secured over 67,000 votes in the 2020 assembly elections. Other significant contenders included LJP’s Manoj Kumar Singh and JDU’s Rajeshwar Chauhan.
The Siwan Lok Sabha constituency, where Raghunathpur is situated, has historically been an RJD stronghold. Shahabuddin, who began his political career in the Jiradei assembly constituency, was elected as an MLA in 1990 and 1995 and later won the Siwan Lok Sabha seat four times. His widow, Hina Shahab, contested the Lok Sabha elections after 2009 but failed to secure victory.
The relationship between the Shahabuddin family and the RJD soured after Shahabuddin’s death in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, as no one from the Lalu family attended his funeral. Supporters of the late leader had pushed for Hina Shahab to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha, but the RJD opted instead to send Misa Bharti, Lalu’s daughter, to the upper house. Hina Shahab had previously contested Lok Sabha elections in 2009, 2014, and 2019 under the RJD banner, but was unable to secure a win in any of these attempts.
Osama’s return to the RJD fold is likely to signal a renewed effort by the party to regain its stronghold in Siwan, with a focus on reuniting the Muslim electorate ahead of the next election.
