Osama Shahab, son of late gangster-turned-neta Mohd Shahabuddin, set to retain Raghunathpur for RJD

Raghunathpur, with its sizable Muslim-Yadav population, has chosen to elect RJD’s Osama Shahab, who is leading with a margin of 12,120 votes on Friday (November 25, 2025), as per the latest trends. His opponent – JD(U)’s Vikash Kumar Singh has polled 25,931 votes while Independent candidate Upendra Singh has polled a mere 981 votes.

Also Read: Bihar election 2025 results LIVE updates

Overall, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is set to retain Bihar, leading on 201 seats opposed to Mahagathbandhan (MGB) whose lead has been reduced to a mere 36 seats. 

Mr. Shahab, who is attempting to shed of the ‘jungle raj’ tag of his father Mohammad Shahabuddin, has remained silent through most of the political campaigning. The only time he spoke was at a rally helmed by MGB’s chief ministerial pick Tejashwi Yadav, urging voters in Bhojpuri, to choose MGB and make Mr. Yadav the CM. His one-minute speech included a faux-pas when he said that the “poor earn ₹10,000 every day” drawing laughter from the crowd, but he corrected and said, “I mean every month”. 

While most of his supporters denounce comparison between Osama and his father, Mr. Shahab has two criminal cases pending against him. Throughout the campaign, BJP highlighted his family’s criminal legacy saying voting for Shahabbudin’s son means bringing back the ‘jungle raj’. Even Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adtiyanath, at a rally in Siwan, said that a “khandani mafia” (mafia family) wants to seize control again. Mr. Shahabuddin passed away in 2021 due to COVID-related complications, while serving a life sentence in a double murder case in Tihar jail.

Since 1952, Raghunathpur remained with the Congress till 1990 before Janata Dal’s Vikram Kunwar’s wrested it from Congress’ Vijay Shanker Dubey. While JD(U)’s Jagmato Devi’s won the seat in 2005 and Mr. Kunwar who had switched to BJP, in 2010, RJD’s Hari Shankar Yadav won in 2015 and 2020. Inspite of being dropped by RJD in these polls, Mr. Hari Shankar has been constantly at Mr. Shahab’s side throughout the poll campaign, speaking for him to voters.