Pappu Yadav’s Congress entry stirs the pot
RJD leadership said to be miffed with Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik) leader’s induction by its ally; State Congress chief rushes to meet Lalu Prasad as buzz grows of the latter finalising candidates for Lok Sabha seats including Purnia
he entry of Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav into the Congress has stirred the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)led Mahagathbandhan pot in Bihar, of which the principal national Opposition party is a constituent.
On Thursday, with buzz growing that RJD chief Lalu Prasad has finalised candidates for some seats, especially to those going to poll in first phase on April 19, Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh rushed to meet the RJD leadership in Patna.
The Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik) leader had merged his party with the Congress on Wednesday and has staked claim to the Purnia Lok Sabha seat in north Bihar. Hours after his induction – in which Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra played an instrumental role – senior RJD leader and Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav had placed
Tcalls to the Congress leadership in the State to express his displeasure.
Sources said the RJD is zeroing in on Bhima Bharti, a woman leader from the Extremely Backward Castes, for the Purnia seat. “What new does Pappu Yadav bring to the table? The Yadav vote bank is already with us,” a senior RJD leader said, explaining their opposition to his candidature. Out of the 19 lakhodd voters in Purnia Lok Sabha seat, 21% voters are Muslims and Yadavs make up 6%.
Names of other RJD candidates doing rounds in political circles and on social media include Kumar Sarvajeet for Gaya (reserved) seat, Shrawan Kushwaha for Nawada, Abhay Kushwaha for Aurangabad and Archana Ravidas for Jamui (reserved) seat. If confirmed, Mr. Sarvajeet would be pitted against NDA candidate from Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Party sources told The Hindu that Mr. Prasad has also finalised the names of Sudhakar Singh (the son of State RJD president Jagdanand Singh) from Buxar, Surendra Yadav from Jehanabad, Alok Mehta from Ujiarpur and Munna Shukla from Vaishali.
Mr. Pappu Yadav had met both Mr. Tejashwi and RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad on Tuesday evening before flying to Delhi, creating an impression that he had RJD’s blessings for the move. “We have been told now that Pappu Yadav did not keep them in the loop and had pushed for the meeting on the pretext of a courtesy call,” a senior Bihar Congress leader told The Hindu.
Other tiffs
This is not the only point of conflict for the Mahagathbandhan. The Congress has been demanding nine seats, but the RJD is willing to concede only six. Similarly, there are tensions between the RJD, Congress and Left parties too. The CPI wants to contest the Begusarai and Madhubani seats as both have traditionally been its “stronghold”. The CPI(ML) wants to contest from Siwan, a seat that the RJD is not willing to let go. “They want to restrict us with just three seats. This was justified when we had JD(U) too in the alliance. Now, as per our strength in the Assembly, they should concede at least five seats to us including Siwan,” a senior CPI(ML) leader said.