Siwan’s women rivals fight their hubbies’ war

PATNA: The wives of two sworn enemies, convicted four-time former MP Mohammad Shahabuddin and his rival don Ajay Kumar Singh, may be pitted against each other, but Hena Shahab and Kavita Singh have one thing in common — both took to electoral politics under compulsion.
In 2009, Hena had to leave the life of a home-maker when RJD fielded her from Siwan after her husband’s conviction.She was reluctant but gave in to the wishes of the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, who convinced her to contest. She contested again in 2014. But both times she lost to Om Prakash Yadav, who himself had lost to Shahabuddin in 2004 while he was in jail.
The RJD has once again nominated Hena, but this time the hijab-clad mother of two is taking on a woman rival, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls for the first time, though Kavita has been a two-term MLA.
Kavita’s plunge into electoral politics is the stuff of political thrillers. She got married to Ajay under the condition that she would have to fight an election right after tying the knot.
It was in 2011, Singh’s mother and sitting JD(U) MLA from Daraundha, Jagmato Devi, had passed away and CM Nitish Kumar was reluctant to give him the ticket in view of the criminal cases against him. Nitish is said to have advised Ajay to marry a girl who can get into electoral politics.
He took the advice and hastily put out a matrimonial ad, even though it was an inauspicious month for weddings, with the conditions that the bride had to be above 18 years, should have her name enrolled in the voters list, and should come from a political family background.
Among the many respondents was Kavita, a student of JP University in Chhapra. She got married to Ajay and was taken straight to the election office to file the nomination papers for the bypoll to Daraundha assembly. She won and retained the seat in 2015.
When JD(U) fielded her from Siwan this time, she came with the promise of development of Siwan. “I will work to bring peace and serenity in Siwan. My next agenda is to develop school, colleges, medical and technical institutes, hospitals and to connect all the villages with electricity and road,” she says.
Her husband though is confident that his rival’s wife will never win, no matter how many times she contested. “People don’t want to relive the same horror when Shahabuddin was MP. At that time, murder, dacoity and kidnapping occurred in broad daylight. People feared to leave their homes even in day time,” he says.
Hena, whose elder son Osama Shahab is playing an active role in her campaign trails, says she is confident that this time she won’t lose. “I’m working for people, and they have faith in me. I believe that this election would be different from previous ones.”
There is a strong speculation that her son, who accompanies her wherever she goes, would jump into the political arena to take his father’s place. However, strongly Hena denies it.
Siwan’s claim to fame used to be that it was the birthplace of the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad. It was also known as the native place of wrestler Bishwanath Singh who had won medals in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. In the 90s, it became famous for the legendary conman Natwarlal, who made way for the ‘Sultan of Siwan’ Shahabuddin.
A local businessman sums it up saying earlier he used to shut his shop even before dusk, but now the times have changed. “It is impossible to say who would win the election because people here do not talk about the elections publically. Both the candidates are working hard to woo the voters. We only want peace and development in Siwan,” he says.