Former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who merged his Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) with the Congress is adamant to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Purnia constituency, the seat given to the RJD as per the agreement reached by the alliance. His stand has put pressure on the Grand Alliance in Bihar. The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), the opposition coalition in Bihar, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and Left parties, recently announced that the RJD, its largest constituent, will contest 26 out of the state’s 40 Lok Sabha seats, including Purnia, in the upcoming elections.
The Congress will contest nine seats, followed by CPI (ML) on 3 seats, and CPI and CPI (M) with one seat each. Pappu Yadav, who was all set to file his nomination on April 2, will now be filing his nomination on April 4, he announced on X.
Pappu Yadav has urged RJD supremo Lalu Yadav to reconsider his decision regarding Purnia and give it to the Congress, since the RJD announced that it would field former minister and Rupauli MLA Bima Bharati from the seat. “Lalu Yadav, the chief of RJD, the elder brother of the INDIA alliance in Bihar, is again requested to reconsider the Purnia seat in the interest of the alliance and leave it for Congress,” he said in a post on X.
Yadav, while speaking to ANI on Monday again, said, “I just want to convey to him (Lalu Yadav) that I am a member of your family. Whenever Lalu’s family has been in trouble, I have been there. Madhepura, Supaul, or the politics of alliances aren’t individuals to me. The people of Purnia aren’t anyone’s slaves. They are far from the politics of Patna and Delhi, and they love their son and not those who live in Delhi and Patna.” Yadav, however, has shown his ‘commitment’ to the Congress party.
In a post on X on Friday, Pappu Yadav said, “We will form a Congress government by winning Seemanchal-Kosi. The flag of Congress will fly in Purnia and we will make Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister.” Yadav, whose active political career spans over three decades got elected to the Lok Sabha five times in the past–thrice from Purnia in 1991, 1996 and 1999 and twice from Madhepura in 2004 and 2014. After being expelled by the RJD in May 2015 for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities, he had formed his Jan Adhikar Party that he has now merged with the Congress.
Bihar will see polling in seven phases. The first phase of polling will be held on April 19, the second phase on April 26, the third phase on May 7, the fourth phase on May 13, the fifth phase on May 20, the sixth phase on May 25, and the seventh phase on June 1. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA, consisting of BJP, JDU ( (Janata Dal-United), and LJP (Lok Janshakti Party), secured victory by taking the lead on 39 out of 40 seats. Meanwhile, the Mahagathbandhan, led by RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal), INC (Indian National Congress), and RLSP (Rashtriya Lok Samta Party), only managed to secure one seat.
The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be held in seven phases from April 19. Counting of votes on June 4.
