Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Bima Bharti on Wednesday filed nomination papers from the Purnea seat in Bihar for the Lok Sabha election. She also requested Pappu Yadav to support her after filing the nomination. Pappu Yadav, who has been an independent MP from Purnea twice, was demanding a ticket from the Congress Party.
“I have filed my nomination today. It is everyone’s right to contest elections. I will request him (Congress leader Pappu Yadav) to support me,” said RJD leader Bima Bharti. Meanwhile, 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 had urged RJD supremo Lalu Yadav to reconsider his decision regarding Purnea 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 bloc 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 Purnea 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.” Purnia Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls in April this year. The date of voting is 26 April ( Phase 2 ).
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Earlier, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya launched her poll campaign from Saran for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday and said that the people will decide whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will cross the 400 mark in the Lok Sabha. “I am proud that I am the daughter of Rabri Devi and Lalu Prasad Yadav…I have no fight with anyone…People will decide whether BJP will cross the 400 mark in the Lok Sabha or not …” said RJD leader Rohini Acharya.
Notably, Rohini Acharya gave a new lease of life to her father by donating kidney in the year 2022. Saran will go to polls in the fifth phase on May 20. Lok Sabha elections to the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar will be held in seven phases between April 19 and June 1. Meanwhile, the BJP has again made its sitting MP and party leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy the candidate from the Saran seat. The Saran seat has been a bastion of the BJP since 2014.
Lalu Yadav reached Parliament for the first time by winning from this seat (then Chhapra) in the year 1977. Lalu Yadav had defeated Rudy on this seat in 2004 and became Member of Parliament from Saran for the third time. In 2009 also, Lalu Yadav had won the election from this seat. After this, Rajiv Pratap Rudy maintained his dominance on this seat in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Earlier on Monday, Former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi offered prayers at Hariharnath temple in Bihar’s Saran district along with daughters, Misa Bharti and Rohini Acharya.
Bihar will witness polling for 40 Lok Sabha seats across all seven phases. In Phase 1, voting will be held on four seats. The state will witness polling on 5 seats each from Phase 2 to Phase 5. In Phases 6 and 7, elections will be held on 8 seats each. 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.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 17 seats with a vote share of 24.1 per cent, while JD (U) secured victory on 16 seats with a vote share of 22.3 per cent. LJP had won 6 seats with a vote share of 8 per cent, while INC had won only one seat with a vote share of 7.9 per cent.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 22 seats. Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) won 6 seats. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won 4 seats. While the Indian National Congress (INC) managed to get only 2 seats.
