Patna: Former RJD MP from Siwan and party’s vice -president Mohammad Shabuddin described as Don by his rivals reached Siwan after his release from Bhagalpur central jail on Saturday morning covering a distance of 400 km in 12 hours. He was greeted by RJD workers and leaders at different places on the highways between Bhagalpur and Siwan including at Khagaria, Musrigharari,Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Thawe and Gopalganj.
The party leaders had come out with welcome arches even on the highways bursting crackers. He had lunch at a Dhaba at Musrigharari in Samastipur where RJD MLA Mohammad Shahin played the host. Mediapersons of national news channels vied with each other in having “exclusives” of Shahbuddin right from jail premises and the RJD leader obliged them by giving them interviews even in his SUV.
When he started from Bhagalpur central jail at 7 in the morning, party workers and leaders followed him in 600 vehicles. It swelled to 1,500 when it arrived at Siwan. For his wife Heena Shahab, it was like return of Ram to Ayodhya after 14 years of Vanvas. She described her husband Ram and said people of Siwan and Gopalganj were celebrating his home coming like Deepawali as done in Ayodhya to welcome Ram. However, senior BJP leaders including union law and justice minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Sushil Kumar Modi and Prem Kumar apprehended return of jungle raj.
Statements of Shahbuddin immediately after his release has made Bihar CM Nitish Kumar uncomfortable as he claimed Lalu not Nitish was leader of Bihar. ” Nitish is the chief minister by coincidence. Anti-liquor law of Nitish was draconian and black law. Nitish can not win even 20 seats in Bihar assembly without support of Lalu,” he said. He also said, “I will not change my image. I shall be the same as I was in last 26 years.” When Shahbuddin came out of the jail, all senior officers of Bhagalpur central jail were present to see him off and escort to his waiting SUV.
Shahbuddin, who was released on bail from Bhagalpur on Saturday morning following an order of Patna High Court, gave enough hint of future political equations in Bihar by declaring RJD chief Lalu Prasad was the natural leader not CM Nitish Kumar. Shahbuddin’s statement put the JD(U) and Congress, two partners in Grand Alliance on , on the defensiv as CM Nitish Kumar refused to react on Shahbuddin’s statement and Congress ommittee president and education minister Ashok Kumar Chaudhury said, “Shahbuddinji has made the statement in his individual capacity.” Shahbuddin described the Bihar Excise and Prohibtion Act as draconian and Black law.
BJP MP from Siwan Omprakash Yadav declared he would assist Chanda babu, father of the three brothers allegedly killed by men of Shahbuddin, to appeal against the bail order in Supreme Court and request the Apex court to get his bail cancelled.
