It’s indeed been a voyage of discovery, every time one travels in the hinterlands of Bihar, and the education continues. Much has been talked about criminals in politics and their nexus with politicians. One has to wander around Maharajganj and Siwan to understand this nexus. These are two places where criminals with records of murder and mayhem, routinely contest elections, and even the people find justifications for their participation. “Anybody can be accused of crime. Even you can be caught anytime now and an FIR filed against you”, a young man, a LIC agent justified when asked about proclaimed offenders and people with criminal records in the fray, in neighbouring Maharajganj, from where he hails.

Prabhunath Singh, the JD(U) candidate and a veteran of many Lok Sabhas, who was also the leader of the JD(U) group in Lok Sabha is one such. But the young man sees neither him nor his rivals from other parties who all have such records, as being unfit for being in the fray. He has a bigger dilemma though. Whom to choose from among the three Rajputs in the fray, being a Rajput himself. “We will see when the time comes”, he says.

If this is the state of affairs in Maharajganj, in neighbouring Siwan, which has been notorious for its “MPsaab”, Mohd. Shahabuddin and his “glorious” record of crime. He is the one who is now in prison sentenced for the killing of a young CPI(M-L) Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) alumni, Chandrashekar, about 15 years ago, on the main street of Siwan. Many other cases are still pending in the courts.

Unlike in 2004, when he contested from the jail and won, this time he has been barred from contesting, as the long arm of the law has finally caught up with him. His wife, Hina Sahab, a burqa clad young lady is in the fray as his proxy, and she is no walkover. The residual fear of her husband’s terror tactics in the region continues to haunt the voters. It is strange that this fear is mixed with awe. Awe over the development works done by the Don of Siwan, during his days as an MP. “Vikas purush toh hai hi”( he is indeed a man of development), an awe as well as fear struck businessman in a town eight kms. from Siwan confirms.

He also confirms that the reign of Shahabuddin’s terror has come down significantly, but it is not yet over. Though most of his henchmen have gone underground, people first check over their shoulders before they talk about him in and around Siwan.

Just to check no one is listening. “People are hoping that this time they will be able to vote and get rid of this menace”, says a real estate agent in Siwan, admitting that he had never been allowed to vote in the past, when the reign of terror prevailed. This time he is preparing to vote for an independent candidate, Om Prakash Yadav, who has rebelled against the Janata Dal(U) .

It is interesting that Yadav, who is seen by a large number of people as the ideal candidate to have taken on the Shahabuddin reign, was ignored by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and instead chose a man of his own caste, kurmi, Vrishan Patel. This has lead to suspicions among a few that maybe Nitish, who otherwise has an impressive image of being a crime and criminal buster, of being hand in glove with Shahabuddin. The wide-spread feeling that Yadav was the right man and he has been betrayed by Nitish does not augur well for the CMs image, especially if Hina Sahab manages to get through.

The sympathy for Yadav stems from the fact that he was the only “leader” who showed the guts to take on the Don, and even braved public humiliations of him being beaten up in front of the DMs office, by Shahabuddin and his goons..

All this criminality of Shahabuddin however does not fade his “vikas purush” image. They talk in awe about the medical and engineering colleges, and many other educational institutions he was instrumental in starting. Also the way in which he streamlined medical services, of course through strong arm methods, and how his intervention would get the work done with the officials.

But as a businessman admitted all this came with a heavy price. Complete curtailment of freedom. “Anyone who would go against him politically were under threat, and hopefully it is waning now”.

For Lalu Yadav, who has consistently supported Shahabuddin and has now given ticket to his wife Hina from his party the Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD), it has been a matter of touching faith in the Don’s ability to win. He has not only turned a blind eye to his criminal activities and terror that he has struck in the minds of the people, but has also protected him from the law for a long time, until Nitish Kumar took over as the Chief Minister, and ensured that the Don is grounded.

It is ironic however that he did not put up his best candidate to defeat the Don’s wife, and behind it lies the tale of Bihar and its criminal-politician nexus.