Bihar: Wife and son of ex-MP Shahabuddin joins RJD

Patna: Heena Shahab, wife of former MP Mohammad Shahabuddin and his son Mohammad Oshama, joined RJD on Sunday in the presence of party supremo Lalu Prasad and other senior leaders.

Heena and Oshama were handed over membership certificates by party president Lalu Prasad at a simple function organised at 10 Circular Road, the official residence of former Chief Minister Rabri Devi. Several other leaders, including former MLC Parmatma Ram, also joined RJD on the occasion.

Prasad, while welcoming both Heena and her son Oshama in his party, said that family members of Shahabuddin had never distanced themselves from RJD. With the joining of mother and son, RJD would get further strengthened in Siwan and other parts of Bihar, he stressed.

Leader of the opposition and senior RJD leader Tejaswi Prasad Yadav said that joining Heena and Oshama in his party would strengthen secular forces in Bihar. The NDA government headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was spreading hatred among people of various sections of society on the basis of religion, he alleged.

Yadav exhorted the people to remain united to defeat communal forces in Bihar being patronised by the Nitish Kumar government. Chief Minister Kumar was talking on the issue of development, but in reality, he was promoting the divisive forces in the state, he alleged.

As it is, Mohammad Shahabuddin had won Lok Sabha elections on an RJD ticket from the Siwan seat on several occasions. Don turned politician Shahabuddin was behind bars after conviction in a number of criminal cases. He was also facing charges of getting killed by journalist Rajdeo Ranjan of a leading Hindi daily in Siwan.

He died during the Corona pandemic while serving a life term in high security Tihar jail in New Delhi. Both Heena and Oshama had earlier alleged that RJD chief Lalu and Tejaswi were not giving due importance to them after the death of Shahabuddin.