Mohammad Shahabuddin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mohammad Shahabuddin
Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha
In office 1996–2009
Preceded by	Brishin Patel
Succeeded by	Om Prakash Yadav
Constituency	Siwan
Member (MLA) of Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office 1990–1996
Preceded by	Tribhuan Singh
Succeeded by	Sheo Shanker Yadav
Constituency	Ziradei
Personal details
Born	(1967-05-10)10 May 1967 Partappur, Siwan district, Bihar, India
Died	1 May 2021(2021-05-01) (aged 53) Delhi, India
Political party	Rashtriya Janata Dal
Other political affiliations	Janata Dal
Spouse	Hena Shahab ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	3 (2 daughters and 1 son)
Parents	Sheikh Mohd Hasibullah (father) Madina Begum (mother)

Mohammad Shahabuddin (10 May 1967 – 1 May 2021) was a politician and former Member of Parliament from the Siwan constituency in the state of Bihar. He was a former member of the National Executive Committee of the Janata Dal and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Shahabuddin was disqualified from contesting elections following his conviction for the kidnapping and disappearance of Chote Lal Gupta, an activist of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation for which he was serving a life sentence. He was also accused of killing 15 other Communist Party activists, including the former student leader Chandrashekhar Prasad.

Shahabuddin was elected for four successive terms to the Indian Parliament between 1996 and 2004 from the Siwan constituency. He was also elected for two successive terms to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1990 and 1995 from the Ziradei constituency. His wife, Hena Shahab, has contested from the Siwan constituency as the candidate from the Rashtriya Janata Dal following his disqualification and has been described as a proxy candidate.

Shahabuddin was described as a convicted gangster, a bahubhali (strongman) in the Siwan district, and a close aide of Lalu Prasad Yadav, the president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Early life and education

Mohammad Shahabuddin was born on 10 May 1967 in Partappur village, Husainganj block in Siwan district of Bihar. He was educated in Bihar and earned a Master of Arts and a PhD degree in political science.

Political career

In the early 1990s, Shahabuddin came into the political limelight, joining the Janata Dal youth wing under Lalu Prasad Yadav. He won the 1990 and 1995 elections to the Vidhan Sabha (state legislative assembly), and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 on the JD ticket, after which he grew in stature. With Lalu Prasad holding sway over the then state government of Bihar, and the formation of the Rashtriya Janata Dal in 1997, Shahabuddin's power increased dramatically.

Police firefight

On 16 March 2001 the police were executing a warrant on the president of the local RJD unit, when Shahabuddin objected and slapped the arresting officer Sanjiv Kumar, while his men beat up the police. The police then re-grouped in strength and a pitched battle was launched on Shahabuddin's house, with help being sought from other police units in the vicinity, including one from Uttar Pradesh.

By the early 2000s, Shahabuddin was running a parallel administration in Siwan, holding khap panchayats to settle family and land disputes, fixing doctors’ consultancy fees, and arbitrating on marital problems. In 2005, the Siwan District Magistrate described him as a habitual criminal.

2004 elections

Shahabuddin ran for the Siwan Lok Sabha constituency in 2004, mostly from prison. In late 2003, eight months before the 2004 general elections, Shahabuddin was arrested on charges of abducting Chote Lal Gupta, a Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation worker in 1999, who was never seen again. Instead of staying in prison, he arranged to have himself shifted to the Siwan hospital on medical grounds; there, a complete floor was set aside for him. Here he conducted meetings organizing his elections, and anyone could walk in to meet him, subject to checks by his bodyguards. Every afternoon at four, he held audience for his subjects, who arrived to meet their Saheb (boss), and to get their problems resolved. One petitioner turned out to be a policeman seeking a promotion; Shahabuddin called up the police bosses on his mobile phone and arranged things on the spot. For another petitioner, he called up a minister in Delhi. Another petitioner, wishing to resolve a land dispute, brought him a rifle as a gift, right there in his prison.

A few days before the election, the Patna High Court directed the state government to return Shahabuddin to jail, instead of to Siwan hospital.

Results and aftermath

Shahabuddin won comfortably, though the second-place finisher Om Prakash Yadav of the Janata Dal (United) party, had managed to get two lakh votes, about 33.5% of the electorate. In the 1999 elections, JD(U) had polled only 7.5% of the vote.

During the elections, largescale rigging and booth capturing were reported from as many as 500 polling stations and re-polling was ordered by the autonomous election conducting body, Election Commission of India. In 2005 a case was filed against Shahabuddin that he had lied in his electoral declaration; whereas he had said he had been named in 19 cases, at the time, there were 34 cases pending against him. Despite being the elected representative of the region, he was forbidden from entering Siwan for six months in 2005, since he was perceived as a security threat.

Home arsenal (April 2005)

In April 2005, a police raid led by then SP of Siwan district Ratn Sanjay (IPS) with the support of DM of Siwan district C. K. Anil (IAS) on Shahabuddin's house in Pratappur village helped recover illegal arms. Subsequently, eight non-bailable warrants were issued for arresting Shahabuddin.

The Delhi police and a special team sent from Bihar could not arrest him for over three months due to his political clout, despite living in his official assigned quarter in Delhi, and attending parliament. Police were finally able to arrest him from his official residence in November 2005. Subsequently, he was refused bail by the Supreme Court of India.

Positions held

Mohammad Shahabuddin has been elected 2 times as MLA and 4 times as Lok Sabha MP.

Political legacy

His wife Heena Shahab ran unsuccessfully for his former seat in parliament in 2009, 2014, and 2019 as a member of the RJD party.

Personal life

Shahabuddin was married to Hena Shahab on 18 November 1991 and the couple have 3 children, including 2 daughters and 1 son named Osama.

Death

On 1 May 2021, Shahabuddin died at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in Delhi, at the age of 53 after succumbing to complications stemming from COVID-19. He had been admitted to an ICU and was undergoing treatment when he died. He was buried in the Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam (ITO) cemetery in Delhi on 3 May 2021.