Lok Sabha polls: Battle in Siwan is about two women, criminal husbands

Both Kavita and Hina don't like to face questions about the criminal charges against their husbands

On the face of it, the general election in Siwan, which votes on May 12, is about women empowerment. Two strong women, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s Hina Shahab and Janata Dal (U)’s Kavita Singh, are in the fray. 

But scratch the surface a little and one would find that the contest is apparently betw­een two bahubalis (strong­men), former RJD MP and don Mohammed Shahabuddin and Hindutva activist and muscleman Ajay Singh. Shahabuddin used to run this constituency as his fiefdom from 1991 to 2007. His reign ended in 2007 after he was awarded life sentence by the Supreme Court in a