Mohammad Shahabuddin - 2004 Elections (fought From Prison)

2004 Elections (fought From Prison)

In late 2003, eight months before the 2004 general elections, Shahabuddin was arrested on charges of kidnapping a CPI(ML) worker in 1999, who was then never seen again. Instead of staying in prison, he managed to get shifted to the Siwan hospital on medical grounds, and where a complete floor was set aside for him. Here he conducted meetings organizing his elections, and anyone could walk in to meet him, subject to checks by his bodyguards. Every afternoon at four, he held audience for his subjects, who arrived to meet their Saheb (boss), and to get their problems resolved. One petitioner turned out to be a policeman seeking a promotion; Sahabuddin called up the police bosses on his mobile phone and arranged things on the spot. For another petitioner, he called up a minister in Delhi. Another petitioner, wishing to resolve a land dispute, brought him a rifle as a gift, right there in his prison.

Although the elections saw little activity by the opposition - every shop carried a photograph of the Saheb, and according to a BBC report:

There is almost no sign of the opposition campaigning in the constituency. One villager, pleading that his identity should not be disclosed, said: "Do you want to get us hanged by telling you what we feel about elections here and who we would like to vote for?"

In fact, several phone booth owners and other businessmen were killed after putting up banners or posters of opponents.

A few days before the election, the Patna High Court directed the state government to ensure that Shahabuddin was properly jailed, instead of the hospital floor.

During the elections, largescale rigging and booth capturing were reported from as many as 500 polling stations and re-polling was ordered by the autonomous election conducting body, Election Commission of India.