Siwan, Bihar: RJD banks on Muslim-Yadav votes, JD(U) nominee plays development card

Siwan has about 3 lakh Muslim and 2.5 lakh Yadav voters, 1.25 lakh Kushwaha and 80,000 Sahni voters, besides 4 lakh upper caste and 2.5 lakh EBC voters.

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Hina Shahab is contesting against JD(U)’s Kavita Singh

At a college ground in Mairwa, motorcylists sporting RJD flags shout slogans in favour of RJD nominee Hina Shahab, wife of convicted former Siwan MP Mohammed Shahabuddin. The podium has posters of Lalu Prasad and Shahabuddin. Sanjay Singh Kushwaha, a local leader in a green pagdi, is master of the ceremony. RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha, the chief guest, has not yet arrived.

The RJD is looking at a consolidation of OBC Kushwaha votes along with Muslim-Yadav support to stitch a winning combination in Siwan. Hina lost two back-to-back elections from here. She sees this as her best chance to win the seat, which her husband won four times till Om Prakash Yadav wrested it, first as an Independent in 2009 and then as a BJP nominee in 2014.

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As the BJP gave the seat to its alliance partner JD(U), Yadav had to sit out. JD(U) has fielded local MLA Kavita Singh, wife of Ajay Singh, a controversial leader, and daughter-in-law of former MLA Jagmato Devi. An upper-caste Rajput, Kavita is banking primarily on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar’s development agenda, besides a good presence of Rajputs in the constituency. Ajay Singh is also seen as someone who had opposed Shahabuddin.

Addressing a sizeable crowd in Mairwa, Hina seeks everyone’s support. “I would like to work for women, youth and the underprivileged. I appeal to you all to join hands and ensure my win… Nitish did not come up with any scheme for free treatment for the poor. He has started speaking the language of PM Modi.”

Most Kushwaha and Sahni speakers expressed solidarity with Hina. They stressed how their leader Upendra Kushwaha was humiliated in the NDA and it was “time to avenge” that.

Siwan has about 3 lakh Muslim and 2.5 lakh Yadav voters, 1.25 lakh Kushwaha and 80,000 Sahni voters, besides 4 lakh upper caste and 2.5 lakh EBC voters.

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Explained

RJD looks to restore clout

The RJD dominated Siwan from 1996 till 2004, when Mohammed Shahabuddin represented the seat. But Independent candidate Om Prakash Yadav, who later joined the BJP, wrested the seat in 2009 and won it again in 2014. Shahabuddin’s wife Hina Shahab has been trying to give her husband the seat by proxy and restore his clout in the RJD. For the JD(U), winning Siwan could be a huge boost.

Krishna Mohan Sharma, a local resident, said, “It has been a tough contest, but sitting BJP MP Om Prakash Yadav could have been a more formidable challenger than Kavita. Yadav had potential to split Yadav and some Muslim votes, but this time RJD’s base of Muslim-Yadav votes are intact…”

At Ziradei, the village of India’s first President Dr Rajendra Prasad, there was strong support for Kavita. “We still recall Shahabuddin’s rule of terror. NDA voters have gone silent this time. There is surely the Modi factor working on the ground. Youth have supported Modi’s tough stance against terrorism,” said Amar Kumar, adding that neighbouring villages such as Bhalua and Surwal supported Modi. Ramesh Prasad, another Ziradei resident, said RJD was under the illusion that Kushwahas would support it.

Santosh Singh

Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. ... Read More

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