2024 Polls: Pappu Yadav's Independent Bid From Purnia May Hurt Congress-RJD

'Duniya Chhod Denge, Purnia Nahi Chhodenge'- was Pappu Yadav alias Rajesh Ranjan's first reaction after the reports of RJD getting the Purnia seat. After the RJD fielded Bima Bharti from the Purnia Lok Sabha seat denying the seat to Congress, former MP Yadav on Thursday filed his nomination papers from the Purnea Lok Sabha seat in Bihar as an independent candidate. Yadav joined the Congress a fortnight ago, along with his son Sarthak, merging his Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) founded in 2015. Notably, JAP was floated a year after Yadav won the Madhepura Lok Sabha seat on an RJD ticket.

Pappu Yadav's Purnia Bid

Pappu Yadav had won the Purnea seat thrice in the 1990s. Yadav is married to Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ranjit Ranjan. As per the seat-sharing arrangement for Bihar, the RJD, the Congress' senior ally in the state, will contest Purnia. The Congress distanced itself from Yadav's nomination bid saying that its workers are standing unitedly behind the Bima Bharti, the RJD nominee from the seat. "I will keep fighting for the welfare of the people of Purnea, Seemanchal and Bihar," Yadav said.

Benefit To BJP-JDU?

The Purnia seat is not set to witness a triangular fight with the JDU, BJP's ally in Bihar, fielding sitting MP Santosh Kumar Kushwaha from the seat. During the Lok Sabha elections, Santosh Kushwaha clinched victory with 6,32,924 votes. Uday Singh from Congress trailed behind in second place with 3,69,463 votes, while independent candidate Shubhash Kumar Thakur secured the third position with 31,795 votes. This shows that Congress and RJD have a significant vote share at the seat. Bima Bharti is a former MLA from the Rupauli seat under the Purnia Lok Sabha seat while Pappu Yadav still wields significant influence at the seat. A division of votes may help the JDU retain the seat as Kushwaha had won by a margin of around three lakh votes in the 2019 polls. (With agency inputs)