RJD MLA Ilyas Hussain, after the verdict on the bitumen scam in Ranchi by a CBI court, joins party chief Lalu Prasad in being barred from contesting elections.

Hussain, a prominent Muslim face of the RJD, represented Dehri-on-Sone in Rohtas district. He was road construction minister right from the day Lalu assumed power in 1990 to November 1999 when the CBI arrested him after quizzing him in connection with the bitumen scam.

The then chief minister, Rabri Devi, had to sack Ilyas as a minister after he was taken to jail. His arrest created a flutter in RJD circles as Hussain’s supporters demanded that the former minister’s wife be named as the new road construction minister the way Rabri was made chief minister when Lalu was arrested in the fodder scam. The demand was rejected by the RJD chief.

Ilyas being sentenced to four years’ jail and fined Rs 2 lakh penalty has come as a shock for the RJD as he had been acquitted in three other bitumen scam-related cases by a Patna court. “We thought he would be cleared in this one also,” said an RJD leader.

The case in which he has been punished by the CBI Ranchi court related to irregularities in purchase of bitumen to the tune of over Rs 18 lakh for Chatra district (now in Jharkhand) during 1992-94.

Jokingly called “Kuber Mantri” during the Lalu-Rabri era, Hussain is considered a close associate of Lalu. In the Grand Alliance, Lalu tried to push him as a cabinet minister but Nitish torpedoed it. Then the RJD tried to make him deputy speaker. It was again frustrated by Nitish due to the ongoing bitumen scam cases. Lately, Hussain appeared isolated in the party. There was surprise when his daughter Asma Praveen joined the JDU a few months ago.

For RJD, if Hussain is unable to contest the next Assembly polls, finding an alternative leader will prove difficult.

The party has lost another Muslim leader, Md Taslimuddin. A senior RJD leader said: “Hussain was among the last few leaders who have been with Lalu right from 1990. He was feeling uneasy in the new set-up in which Tejashwi Yadav calls the shots. But his importance in the Rohtas region cannot be denied.”