Hena Shahab

Who is Hena Shahab?

Hena Shahab is the wife of one of India's most notorious criminal-politician, Mohammad Shahabuddin, and a politician from the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Laloo Prasad. Her name is sometimes also spelled as Heena Shahab.

In the Indian general elections, 2009, her husband was in jail serving life-imprisonment for murder, and not allowed to contest the elections. Shahab, who until then had led a devout burqa-clad life, contested from her husband's Siwan as a RJD party candidate, but lost by 63,000 votes to her husband's longtime opponent Om Prakash Yadav. Yadav, who was once been beaten up publicly by Shahabuddin, and had nine of his workers murdered after the 2004 elections, won despite being an Independent candidate. In the elections, she remained indoors and did "not even come out to campaign let alone address the electorate", but managed to poll 172,000 of the votes.

In 2010, Laloo Prasad continued to promote Heena and Sahabuddin in his party.