Shahbuddin is dead, long live the ‘Shahabuddins’. Bihar Assembly elections months away, Ayub Khan and Rayees Khan – the long-time aides of the late Mohd Shahabuddin, with a long list of cases against them – have staked claim to the political vacuum left by the late don in his fiefdom of Siwan. On January 15, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief and Union minister Chirag Paswan flew down in a chopper to Siwan to welcome the two into the party. Paswan is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar, and is seeking to prove his worth at a time when partner JD(U) and Nitish Kumar are seen to be on the wane. The Khan brothers face murder and dacoity charges, among others. LJP (RV) spokesperson Vinit Singh played this down, telling The Indian Express: "They have not been convicted. We cannot go by perception. Let the courts decide. They have been in public life for a while… They will add to the party’s strength in Siwan.” Singh added that the brothers joined the LJP (RV) drawn to “the party's principles and our leader Chirag Paswan’s slogan of Bihar first, Bihari first”. Siwan’s don Shahabuddin’s uncontested run in Siwan lasted from early 1990s till 2009. After winning as an Independent from Ziradei in the 1990 Assembly polls, he retained the seat as a Janata Dal nominee in 1995. From 1996 till 2004, he contested only Lok Sabha polls, and was mostly in the RJD. In 2007, Shahabuddin was convicted in a kidnapping and murder case and barred from contesting elections. Finally, his hold on the Siwan Lok Sabha seat was broken, and Om Prakash Yadav won it as an Independent in 2009. He retained it five years later as a BJP nominee. Among those Yadav defeated was Shahabuddin’s wife Hina Shahab, who went on to contest three more Lok Sabha contests from Siwan without success. While she was an RJD nominee three of those times, in 2024, she contested as an Independent after failing to get the party ticket. In 2021, Shahabuddin passed away in Delhi’s Tihar Jail while serving a life sentence for kidnapping and murder. In 2019 and 2014, the winners from the Siwan parliamentary seat were the JD(U)’s Kavita Singh and Vijaylakshmi Devi, respectively. The JD(U) was an ally of the BJP both the times. At the event where they joined the LJP (RV) on January 15, the Khan brothers showered praise on Chirag, calling him the "young, emerging leader" of Bihar. Rayees hailed Chirag's slogan of "Bihar first, Bihari first". Chirag said he hoped the two would help strengthen the party in Siwan. LJP (RV) sources said that the party will push for an Assembly poll ticket from Siwan, Raghunathpur or Barhara for Rayees, who has some electoral experience having contested the 2022 Legislative Council polls, which he lost to the RJD. During the campaign, Rayees had lodged a case against Shahabuddin’s son Osama, accusing the latter of firing at his vehicle. Sources said that the Khans first explored joining the JD(U), but the party leadership – wary of the charges against them, contrary to the Nitish government’s image of “being strict on law and order” – was not interested. Rayees confirmed this at the January 15 event, saying: "We had serious talks with the JD(U), but it did not work out. Maybe the top leadership was against it.” Sources in Siwan said the decision to induct the Khans will help the LJP (RV). “The brothers have been desperate to create a political space for themselves after Shahabuddin’s family lost the Siwan turf. They have sizeable influence among fellow Muslims,” said a source. The Shahabuddin rivalry The brothers’ association with Shahabuddin had lasted almost 10 years, from the mid-1990s till 2005. The political ambitions they developed during this time as Shahabuddin made a successful foray into the field finally led to their fallout. Sources said that after Shahabuddin turned down the request of the Khan brothers for an RJD ticket from Raghunathpur for their father in the October 2005 Assembly polls – as he had already decided on a party candidate – they rebelled. Khan Senior then filed nomination as an Independent, and while he did not win, his presence split the vote and the JD(U)'s Jagmato Devi won from Raghunathpur. It was seen as a loss of face for Shahabuddin. After Nitish Kumar became the CM in November 2005, Shahabuddin's influence in Siwan and state politics took a blow. The Nitish government initiated speedy trials in cases against Shahabuddin. Between 2007 and 2010, he was convicted in over half-a-dozen criminal cases. While he managed to secure a ticket for Hina from Siwan in 2009, her loss to an Independent was the first telling sign that Shahabuddin’s hold in the area was fading. Her streak of poll losses from the seat, to both the BJP and JD(U), were further blows to the don’s clout. After her loss in the Lok Sabha polls last year, Hina returned to the RJD, accompanied by son Osama. Many expect the RJD to field Osama from Siwan. If the LJP (RV) gets an Assembly seat in Siwan on the NDA ticket, there could be a repeat of the Shahabuddin vs Khan rivalry by proxy. Of the Assembly constituencies falling under Siwan, Raghunathpur is currently represented by Harishankar Yadav and Siwan by Awadh Bihari Choudhary, both of the RJD. Siwan now Many feel that Hina’s successive poll losses is a sign that Siwan has turned a page, and that the Khan brothers’ association with Shahabuddin or the NDA will not be enough. RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said: "There is little scope for the Khan brothers in Siwan politics… which still has a lot to offer to the Shahabuddin family. Hina contested the last Lok Sabha polls as an Independent and yet emerged the runner-up.” A 2012 report of the CID, Bihar Police, lists over two dozen cases against Rayees, including murder, dacoity, ransom and kidnapping, in Bihar, UP and Odisha. In the affidavit he filed for the 2022 MLC polls, Rayees listed 12 criminal cases, including of murder and extortion. Ayub also faces over a dozen cases, including of murder, extortion and under the Arms Act. In 2022, the Siwan police held him in connection with a triple murder case. He is out on bail in the case.
