Courts dashed poll dreams of Bihar's dreaded Bahubalis - India Rising
Published on: Monday, 6th April 2009 07:18 AM
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read complete rediff.com article here
It is for the first time that four of Bihar's bahubalis, the dreaded criminal-turned-politicians, Mohammad Shahabuddin, Rajiv Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav [Images], Suraj Singh alias Surajbhan Singh and Anand Mohan are not contesting the Lok Sabha election after the courts disallowed them to do so.
All the four are convicted and sentenced from life imprisonment to 10 years imprisonment in criminal cases.
Rashtriya Janata Dal's sitting Members of Parliament Pappu Yadav from Madhepura and Shahabuddin from Siwan, Lok Janshakti Party MP Surajbhan Singh and former Janata Dal-United MP Anand Mohan, who have contested for over a decade, are not in the poll fray this time. It was made possible only after the courts turned down their plea to suspend conviction in criminal cases, so that they could contest the coming Lok Sabha election.
Due to the speedy trials by the fast track courts, more than 30,000 criminals were convicted in Bihar after 2005, which included a dozen Bahubalis.
"This never happened before that four of them were not in the election fray. It is a rare but a positive beginning," Satyanarayan Madan, a political activist said.
Madan is not alone, most of the people in the state, ranging from the commoner on the streets to the elite in their drawing rooms -- see this as a positive development for Bihar.
"It is a right thing that criminal-turned-politicians like Shahabuddin, Pappu Yadav, Surajbhan and Anand Mohan are kept away from contesting elections, it will send a strong message," Mumtaz Ansari, a government official told rediff.com in Patna.
Interestingly, these Bahubalis, who used to be a terror in their respective strongholds, appeared helpless following the courts' order. They simply accepted the judgement, as they had no other alternative.