The Siwan don had declared that circumstances had made Nitish chief minister and that Lalu Prasad was his real leader.
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Shahabuddin on Saturday said “My leader was Lalu Prasad, is Lalu Prasad and will remain Lalu Prasad”.
He further said if Singh had issues, he should put it at the proper forum of his party. The former union minister went public with his view that he did not want Kumar to be the alliance’s chief ministerial candidate but he was overruled.
To a query, Lalu replied, “Despite telling him repeatedly, Raghubansh Singh speaks something to media”.
Patna High Court granted Shahabuddin bail in the case of a murder of a witness to the 2004 killing of two brothers in Siwan.
An old rivalry between Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and strongman-turned-politician Mohammed Shahabuddin has resurfaced, causing a ruction in the state’s ruling alliance.
User Naina wrote, “JD Goon #Shahabuddin Is a free man today.The more heinous d crime election win is guaranteed.Bihar mai bahar hai”. Before jail, he also ran a personal court where the people would come with their grievances and he would redress them. The RJD boss tried to do the balancing act between shielding his former MP, Shahabuddin, and assuage his alliance partner at the same time.
Speaking to the press on Monday, senior JD (U) leader Bijendra Yadav defended the the government and said, “Law will be taking its own course in the Shahabuddin case”.
Reacting to repeated attacks on the Chief Minister by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders, Bihar Congress chief Ashok Choudhary told ANI, “The government of the grand alliance was formed on the basis of a strategy and its topmost leaders had formed the grand alliance”.
Jailed for 11 years, he faces 40 criminal cases, including abduction.
He also rubbished allegation that the government had facilitated the release of Shahabuddin, a former four-time MP from Siwan who is facing almost 40 cases of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and extortion.
On questions being raised by the BJP over Shahabuddin’s bail, Nitish had said: “You should ask this question to the judiciary, not me”.
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Hundreds of supporters flocked to the jail gate to welcome Shahabuddin in the early morning.
