Om Prakash Yadav

For the Nepali politician, see Om Prakash Yadav Gulzari.

Om Prakash Yadav (born 1965) is an Indian politician from Bihar. In the Indian General Election, 2009, he was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Siwan (Lok Sabha Constituency), by defeating Hena Shahab by a margin over 63,000 votes. Mrs. Shahab, the wife of India's most infamous criminal politician Mohammad Shahabuddin, was widely viewed as a proxy for him.^[1] Shahabuddin himself is in jail, having been convicted for kidnapping with intent to murder.

In 2009, he was replaced by party supremo Nitish Kumar - the Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) nomination going to Brishin Patel, who belongs to Nitish's Kurmi caste, and had won from here in 1991. However, Brishin had lost touch - he polled less than 10% of the votes; this may count among Nitish's major errors in the elections. Om Prakash decided to fight the elections as an Independent, and Siwan became one of the few seats in Bihar that did not go to the JD(U)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance.

As an independent candidate, Om Prakash Yadav may be supporting the Indian National Congress led coalition^[2]

2004 elections

In 2004, Om Prakash Yadav had lost to Shahabuddin, who was also in jail then, but could fight elections since he was yet to be convicted. There was widespread intimidation, and opponents were not able to campaign effectively because of an aura of fear.^[3] Despite this, Om Prakash managed to get more than 2 lakh votes against Shahabuddin. Subsequently there was widespread violence against his the-then JD-U party

For the crime of having dared put up a credible fight, nine JD workers were killed in the days following the election. Yadav was assigned a team of eight bodyguards.^[4]

Om Prakash Yadav himself had to flee his hometown of Lalji near Siwan, and wait out the ganglord's anger while the newly elected state government worked on providing him security.

2009 elections

In the 2009 elections, his main opponent Hena Shahab never campaigned, showing herself in public only at a few meetings with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and their star campaigner, movie actor Sanjay Dutt. She never spoke at the huge rallies, but only waved her hand.^[5] It was clear that the campaign was being run in Shahabuddin's name, by his well-oiled elect5ion machinery, though many of his gang members, such as Rustam Mia, Dhruv Jayaswal, Shubrati Mia, Munsi Mia and others were in Siwan jail. ^[6]

Also, since Nitish Kumar came to power in Bihar in 2005, he set up fast track courts that have sent 14,000 criminals to jail, and the atmosphere of intimidation appears to have eased up considerably.^[7] So much so, that even criminal-politicians put up JD-U - Prabhunath Singh of Maharajganj and Munna Shukla of Vaishali, also lost.

References

1. ^ "Proxy wars in Siwan". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2009-04-15. http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/15/stories/2009041556111500.htm. 
2. ^ http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/11-other-reasons-why-UPA-may-not-need-Mulayam-Lalu/461456/
3. ^ Jyotsna Singh (2004-04-21). "Jail no bar for Bihar candidates". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3645317.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-08. 
4. ^ Saba Naqvi Bhoumick (April 2005). "The Saheb of Siwan". First Proof - The Penguin Book of New Writing from India I. ISBN 0143032445. 
5. ^ http://specials.rediff.com/election/2009/apr/15sld1-from-behind-a-veil-a-prisoners-wife-seeks-the-vote.htm
6. ^ Pranava K Chaudhary & Abhay Mohan Jha (January 2, 2007). "Siwan jail flooded with arms dealers". Times of India. http://www.articlearchives.com/crime-law-enforcement-corrections/criminal-arrests/1794835-1.html. 
7. ^ "Musclemen bite the dust in Bihar". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2009-05-18. http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/18/stories/2009051856301800.htm. 

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Name	Yadav, Om Prakash
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Date of birth	1965
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