Lalu my only leader, RJD will form next government in Bihar: Shahabuddin

A day after he was released on bail after 11 years in jail on criminal charges, former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, stuck to his gun, reiterating his description

A day after he was released on bail after 11 years in jail on criminal charges, former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, stuck to his gun, reiterating his description of Nitish Kumar as a “circumstantial CM” of Bihar. “The RJD will come to power on its own in the next election”, he told Avinash Kumar on Sunday. Excerpts:

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Why did you say Nitish Kumar is a ‘circumstantial’ CM?

What was wrong in what I said? Parties with three different ideologies – RJD, Congress and the JD(U)– selected him as CM candidate (ahead of the 2015 Bihar assembly poll). So, clearly, circumstances made him CM. The (GA) tie-up is only for five years. I know Nitish only as CM. Lalu Prasad remains my leader and the buck stops there. By force if somebody will tell me to accept Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi as my leader, it cannot happen.

But the GA selected him as CM?

Yes. The circumstances were such that none of the three parties was in a position to win the election on its own. The alliance had only one objective — to stop the BJP. It was the situation prevailing at the time that made Nitish Kumar the choice for CM. If Nitish Kumar wants to become PM tomorrow, my best wishes are with him. But I am firmly behind my leader. My religion allows four marriages, but I have married only once. I will remain with RJD and RJD only. That is me.

But your statement has not gone down well with JD(U)?

Maybe, I have been unable to make them understand, or they are not ready to understand. I have said what I feel and many people feel that way. Had Nitish Kumar done really well in his first tenure as CM, he would have had the power to sweep elections on his own. But he still required alliance. Let me tell you, in the next election, RJD will come to power on its own in Bihar.

You are a feared man. Some people are very apprehensive about your release?

I am a normal human being. I don’t fear anyone except Allah. I fight for ‘jannat’ (heaven), not nark (hell). Do you know the charge on which I was arrested in Delhi in 2005? Power theft. A former MP getting arrested for power theft! After that, I was implicated in all the murders that took place even when I was in jail. I don’t even know Chanda Babu, whose sons were killed, and I was made an accused. Politicians are usually involved in corruption or sex cases. I stay away from all this. If women come to meet me, I ask them to come with husband or relatives. I trust myself, but I don’t trust the world.