In Bihar, a don walks free and struts around like a nawab

Mohammed Shahabuddin is on a high in dry Bihar. The strongman from Siwan walked out of prison on bail with the air of a man who had served time for a lofty national cause. He claimed being starch-clean and of being framed in crimes he never committed. The public knew him as a good man, he said with a straight face. He thus added there was no need for him to “change”.

Indeed, why should he? He received a rapturous welcome on emerging from the Bhagalpur jail after 11 years. A clutch of senior politicians from the ruling parties in the State were at the gate to receive him. He then drove to his hometown Siwan in  a motor cavalcade that would have done a US President proud. In Siwan, he is admired but also dreaded and hated.

And so, not everybody is celebrating. Certainly not the families of victims of his crimes, both confirmed and suspected. With trepidation, they await his fury. So do those courageous few who had dared to testify against the bahubali in various cases. Some have asked for police protection.

The ‘sahab’, as he is referred to in his backyard, is no ordinary criminal. There are few heinous crimes he has not been allegedly involved in or convicted for. The list is impressive: Life term in an abduction case; 10-year jail for illegally possessing an imported firearm; life sentence in an acid attack incident. Then there are cases where Shahabuddin face trial: An abduction; an attack on a senior police officer; a murder…

None of these should make him particularly appealing to the people, not anymore than an ordinary criminal would be. But he is not just another convict, another accused. Shahabuddin also wears a political hat. He is a front-ranking leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Led by another convict, Lalu Prasad, the party had only five months ago, elevated him in the hierarchy.

What is his USP? First, he commands support among large sections of the main minority community. It’s not only because he belongs to a common religious faith but also because he has gone out of his way to help the community, often at the cost of people of other religious denominations. Second, his muscleman status gives him the leverage to command the support of various elected representatives of the people in times of crisis. Third, his hold over different arms of the administration, which did not loosen too much while he was incarcerated, makes him useful in the political arena.

It is being alleged that Shahabuddin secured bail because the Nitish Kumar Government half-heartedly presented its case before the court. If this is true, Shahabuddin displayed no gratitude to the Chief Minister. Minutes after breathing free air, he ridiculed Nitish Kumar for being a Chief Minister “of circumstance”; said Nitish Kumar never was and would never be his leader; and declared that Lalu Prasad was Bihar’s real leader. Finally, he predicted the RJD would form a Government on its own next time around.

For Nitish Kumar, the Siwan strongman has been anathema and a complete contrast to his ‘clean image and good governance’ pitch. In the days when Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar were bitter rivals, Shahabuddin was good muck for the Chief Minister to throw at his opponent. Today, the RJD’s discredited leader has become an embarrassment for the JD(U) and for Nitish Kumar. They cannot accept him, they cannot dump him.

The Chief Minister may have bravely brushed off Shahabuddin’s ridicule, but it must have rankled. Especially more so, since Nitish Kumar is helpless in responding effectively. His party spokespersons may have rubbished the muscleman’s comments, but they haven’t had the courage to demand action from Lalu Prasad. Chance are, if Nitish Kumar was to complain too loudly, he could find the rug pulled from under his feet.

The RJD is certainly enjoying the development. It is thrilled not just by Shahabuddin’s rejection of Nitish Kumar’s leadership but also by his endorsement of Lalu Prasad. From the day the Grand Alliance assumed power, Lalu Prasad’s party let it be known that Nitish Kumar was a beneficiary of its generosity — much like Manmohan Singh was, of Sonia Gandhi’s.

Lalu Prasad and his team are showing no signs of helping repair Nitish Kumar’s image. Senior RJD leader and former Union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh mocked the Chief Minister’s ‘inability’ to form a Government on his own strength.

All of this is doing no good to Nitish Kumar’s dignity. It can even dent his prospects of making a splash on the national stage. He may be credible in Bihar, but Lalu Prasad is the popular one with a larger chunk of MLAs. Nitish Kumar has none but himself to blame for the situation. He sought and received Lalu Prasad’s support. Now, it’s payback time.