Bets off in Purnea as Pappu digs in heels

The stage is now set for a triangular contest in Purnea Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, where five-time former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav refused to pull out of the fray on Monday, the last day for withdrawal of nominations, despite calls from the Congress, the party he had joined last month.

Yadav, who is contesting as an Independent, has been allotted “scissors” as his election symbol.

As part of the seat sharing deal in the opposition alliance Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, the seat was allotted to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which has fielded five-time MLA Bima Bharti, who quit the Janata Dal (United) and joined Lalu Yadav’s party only last month.

JD(U) has fielded its sitting MP Santosh Kumar, who won the seat in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Purnea, which has around 19 lakh voters, goes to polls on April 26 in the second phase of the seven-phase parliamentary elections being held in the country. A total of seven candidates are in the fray.

Yadav has won Purnea seat thrice (1991, 1996 and 1999) and Madhepura seat twice (2004 and 2014).

After falling out with Lalu Yadav in 2015, he had formed Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), which he merged with Congress on March 20 this year.

His wife Ranjeet Ranjan, a two-time former Lok Sabha member, is currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Congress.

Last week, Bihar Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh had said his party had not permitted any candidate to contest as an Independent from Purnea. “The party will not accept this. He (Yadav) is advised to withdraw his nomination,” he had said.

Asked about Congress’s next course of action, Purnea Congress president Chhotu Singh said, “We have informed our top leaders and they will take a decision. Our party is behind Mahagathbandhan nominee Bima Bharti.”

Congress is contesting on nine seats in Bihar, which has a total of 40 parliamentary constituencies.