RJD’s legacy card: Osama Shahab named candidate as BJP targets ‘old Bihar politics’
New Delhi: Osama Shahab, the son of the deceased RJD strongman and ex-Siwan MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, has been announced as the Raghunathpur seat candidate by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, causing another political storm in Bihar. Seen as both symbolic and tactical, the move is the RJD’s attempt to heal old political wounds within the party and revive its customary Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) vote bank. But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has criticised the decision harshly, using the occasion to attack the RJD for its ties to what it calls “legacy politics.” Ravi Shankar Prasad, a senior BJP leader and Patna MP, spearheaded the campaign, denouncing the RJD’s action as backward and reminiscent of its past.
“We’ve heard that the son of late Shahabuddin is being fielded. The decision has been made and confirmed. What is the message that RJD is trying to convey? They wish to re-create the same terror in Bihar. Tejashwi Yadav speaks of a ‘new Bihar,’ but how will things become so with such a face?” Prasad averred.
He further claimed that the leadership of RJD by Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, and Tejashwi Yadav is an example of “marae khadya, tatanu aajadi, and bandook se jadaland.”
The BJP, preparing to fight the Assembly elections on the dual agenda of development and good governance, has promised that it will utilize the RJD’s move to remind the people of what it refers to as the “jungle raj” period. Party strategists are likely to highlight issues of law and order, corruption-free administration and welfare delivery as a response to RJD’s social identity and nostalgia-based appeal.
Lalu Prasad’s recent political maneuver has brought back memories of the RJD’s earlier days of political ascendency in Bihar’s heartland politics, which were once represented by his close ties with Shahabuddin. The two personified the party’s strong grassroots strength, particularly among the Muslim and Yadav communities. But the relationship turned sour following Shahabuddin’s incarceration and subsequent death in 2021 while undergoing a life term in an infamous acid attack case that had left the state shocked. After his death, Shahabuddin’s wife, Hina Shahab, kept distance from the RJD, blaming the party for betrayal and abandonment.
The debacle undermined the RJD’s control over Siwan—a district that for long had been considered the party’s stronghold. By fielding Osama Shahab in the election, Lalu Prasad seems to be trying a “correction of the past.” In a notable gesture, he himself handed over the party symbol to Osama, indicating both reconciliation and revival. Interestingly, the young Shahab won’t be fighting from his father’s traditional turf of Siwan, but from Raghunathpur, where incumbent RJD MLA Harishankar Yadav has made way for him.
The decision, sources indicate, is a reflection of the party’s internal realignment and willingness to support the legacy of the late leader through his son. Political analysts view the decision as an extension of a larger electoral plan by the RJD-Congress alliance to strengthen its core minority and backward class vote bank—the backbone of Mahagathbandhan’s resilience. With Lalu Prasad going on campaign duty himself this time, the RJD is obviously seeking to mix nostalgia with new outreach.
