Overview

• RJD named Osama Shahab as its candidate for the Raghunathpur Assembly seat in Siwan district rather than his father’s traditional Siwan constituency.
• Sitting MLA Hari Shankar Yadav yielded the seat, and Lalu Prasad publicly gave Osama the party symbol.
• BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad and JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha castigated the choice as a throwback to 'jungle raj' and vowed to campaign on law and order.
• CPI(ML), an RJD ally that once agitated against Shahabuddin, said it has no dispute with his family.
• The decision is being read as a bid to re-energize the RJD’s Muslim–Yadav base, even as Shahabuddin’s convictions and 2021 death in custody remain flashpoints.