"No Nitish, No Lalu, only Pappu": Purnia Lok Sabha Independent candidate exudes confidence in his victory
Apr 26, 2024
Purnia (Bihar) [India], April 26 : Alleging threat to his life, Purnia Lok Sabha Independent candidate Pappu Yadav voiced concerns over alleged political harassment and conspiracies aimed towards him by the opposition parties in the region.
Congress leader Pappu Yadavdecided to go solo after being denied a ticket from the Purnia Lok Sabha constituency.
Pappu had represented Purnia three times between 1991 and 2004.
As per an arrangement among the opposition parties within the INDIA bloc in the state, the RJD put forward Bima Bharti, who had previously been associated with JD(U), as their candidate from Purnea, thus denying the Congress the opportunity to contest from that constituency.
However, after former MP Rajesh Ranjan, better known as Pappu Yadav decided to contest the seat alone, the 'Pappu' factor is worrying both Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
Yadav, a prominent figure in the region, revealed the challenges he has faced, including recent attempts to seize his car, harassment by law enforcement, and purported threats to his life.
"I am a son who has received blessings. No matter how much people tried to put me down, tried to harass and murder me politically, including conspiracies to even harm and kill me, my car being seized, and harassment by the police prosecution. Some people even called the criminal and mafias against me, there has been so much mental torture in the past few days"
Exuding confidence of his victory from the seat, Yadav asserted that there is a "Pappu" wave in the region.
"I considered Purnea as my mother and decided to contest alone. Why do you think Purnea is a hot seat today. It is the blessings of the people from here. No Narendra Modi, no Nitish Kumar, No Lalu Yadav from here, Just Pappu," he said.
Purnia insinuated an indirect attack by stating, "Someone wrote a Mahabharat script in Patna, after I joined the Congress party. The result of that Mahabharat will be given by the public on June 4."
Janata Dal (United) has fielded two-time incumbent sitting MP Santosh Kumar from the seat as part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
In the 2019 general elections at Purnia seat, Santosh Kumar got 6,32,924 votes on the JD(U) ticket, while Congress candidate Uday Singh, alias Pappu Singh, got 3,69,463 votes.
The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), the opposition coalition in Bihar, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties, announced that the RJD, its largest constituent, is contesting 26 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats, including Purnia.
Voting for the second Phase in Bihar began on Friday. The five constituencies which are going to poll in the second phase are Kishanganj, Purnia, Katihar, Bhagalpur, and Banka.
Bihar will see polling in seven phases. The first phase of polling was concluded on April 19.
The second phase of voting began 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.