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Shahabuddin justifies his ‘circumstantial’ comment on Nitish, calls Lalu Yadav his only leader

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Strongman Mohammad Shahabuddin On Saturday Night Further Added Fuel To The Controversy Stirred By His Comments On Nitish Kumar Immediately After His Release From Bhagalpur Jail Earlier In The Day. “I Just Had Said That Nitish Kumar Became CM Because Of Circumstances, So What Is Wrong In That?' Mohd Shahabuddin Told Media.

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Arshi Aggarwal | Updated on: 11 Sep 2016, 08:41:26 AM
Image source: Twitter/ANI

New Delhi:

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) strongman Mohammad Shahabuddin on Saturday night further added fuel to the controversy stirred by his comments on Nitish Kumar immediately after his release from Bhagalpur jail earlier in the day.

“I just had said that Nitish Kumar became CM because of circumstances, so what is wrong in that?” Mohd Shahabuddin told media. 

“Our neta (leader) is obviously Lalu Yadav. Nitish Kumar is the CM of the state, no debate on that,” he added.
 Lalu’s right hand and notorious bahubali further pointed out that Nitish Kumar did not become CM by securing majority votes but through political coalition. “Regular CMs are those who come to power through majority, and the other type is who secure seat by coalition,” Shahabuddin said.  

Shahabuddin had courted controversy as soon as he stepped out of jail after 11 years on Saurday, after he called Nitish Kumar a ‘circumstancial CM’ as he hailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Addressing media after reaching his hometown Siwan, Shahabuddin said, “I do not follow ‘Bihar brand of politics’, my definition of politics is different; I follow Lalu Yadav’s politics.”

Mohammad Shahabuddin, also known as ‘Siwan Terror’, walked out of prison on bail after 11 years on Saturday amidst much fanfare and praised party chief Lalu Prasad.

The controversial leader, who has been a four-time MP from Siwan, emerged out of the Bhagalpur divisional jail and left in a convoy of three hundred vehicles for Siwan.

Meanwhile, Bihar BJP has announced that its leaders will seek the intervention of state governor to quash the bail of Shahabuddin and sit on a dharna in every district on Sept 14 for the same. 

Who is Shahabuddin

Shahabuddin, who is a member of RJD National Committee - the top decision making body of the party - and is known to be close to the RJD chief, said categorically that he never enjoyed good relations with Kumar.

Various pending cases against Shahabuddin were reopened and he was sent to jail after Kumar had assumed power in 2005.

He was, however, quick to add that it was the court which sent him to jail and the court again which ordered his release from the jail.

Shahabuddin had got final reprieve on Wednesday when Patna High Court granted him bail in a case of murder of a witness in the 2004 killing of two brothers in Siwan. He had got bail in nearly 12 other cases earlier.

Shahabuddin was accorded a grand reception by his supporters and RJD workers.

He was welcomed by RJD Lok Sabha MP from Bhagalpur, Shailesh Kumar alias Bulo Mandal, at Jehangir Chowk in Bhagalpur and by other supporters at Naughachia in the same district.

Shahabuddin said for him Lalu Prasad is the leader and "We all are standing solidly behind him."

He said after reaching Siwan he would meet the family of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, who was shot dead recently.

Shahabuddin's close associate Laddan Mian is in jail in connection with the scribe's murder and though the inquiry into it has so far not named the RJD strongman, he was shifted to Bhagalpur divisional jail from Siwan a little after the incident.

The Nitish Kumar government had recommended CBI probe into the murder on demand of the scribe's family.

Asked by newsmen whether his prolonged jail term had harmed him politically, Shahabuddin said, "A little damage has happened."His wife Heena Sahab lost to Om Prakash Yadav of BJP in the last parliamentary election from Siwan in 2014.

Asked how he spent his time in jail, the RJD leader said he is an avid reader. "Out of four cartons I am taking back from jail, two are full of books which I read during my stay."

To a question on senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi's allegation that the Grand Secular Alliance government had paved way for his release as RJD is the major partner in it, Shahabuddin said, "There is no need to take Sushil Modi seriously."

"During his early days in Bihar Assembly in the 1990s I remember he used to speak very incoherently leaving deskmen in trouble as to what actually he said. Now he speaks properly and is good in giving news to mediaperson by telling unsubstantiated facts," he said.

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First Published : 11 Sep 2016, 08:38:00 AM

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