Pappu Yadav was not fielded by the Congress, and has filed his nomination as an independent.
One of the most interesting political games is going on in Bihar, where Pappu Yadav has stirred up the power corridors from his remote Purnia. There is no doubt that Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav prepared Pappu Yadav to influence the Yadavs, backward classes, and Muslim voters. Pappu Yadav was born in Madhepura district in 1967. He comes from a landlord family and did not lack land or property. After going to college, Pappu Yadav was gaining recognition as a tough guy. His tough image was talked about in many districts of Seemanchal. This is about the time after 1980. At that time, Lalu Prasad Yadav was also busy refurbishing his political career. At the time, after leaving college, Pappu Yadav supported Lalu Yadav, and Pappu Yadav’s toughness was useful for Lalu Yadav. At the time, Pappu Yadav was accused of booth capturing or stealing ballot boxes for Lalu Yadav.
I myself lived in Bihar from 1988 to 1991 as the editor of Nav Bharat Times. Therefore, I was benefiting from understanding and writing about the politics there, along with witnessing the events leading to Lalu Yadav becoming the Chief Minister from the final days of Congress rule in the state. In 1990, he was elected as an independent MLA. After becoming an MLA, Pappu Yadav’s goal was the Lok Sabha and he kept fighting for the forward and backward classes. That period was exceptional for Pappu Yadav. The fear of Pappu Yadav was so high in Seemanchal that people were afraid to even utter his name.
After becoming an MLA in 1990, he served as a member of the Lok Sabha five times. The first time, in 1991, he contested and won independently from Purnia. After that, in 1996 and 1999, he again became an independent MP from Purnia. In 2004, Lalu Prasad Yadav gave him a ticket from Madhepura, and he won for the fourth time. However, Pappu Yadav had to spend 17 years in jail after being named in the murder case of Communist Party (Marxist) leader Ajit Sarkar in 1998. At the time, Pappu Yadav was an MP from the Purnia Lok Sabha seat. He also received a life sentence. His Lok Sabha membership was revoked in 2008. Pappu Yadav appealed against the decision in the Patna High Court.
After that, in 2013, he was acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence. After getting relief from the Patna High Court in 2013, Pappu Yadav contested from Madhepura on an RJD ticket for the fifth time in 2014 and won for the fifth time. In 2015, he got upset with Tejashwi Yadav’s rhetoric and distanced himself from the RJD, forming his “Jan Adhikar Party”. He contested from his party in 2019 but lost. Since his release from jail in 2013, Pappu Yadav had changed his approach. He started building his image. He tried to become a messiah by helping the people in his area in every difficulty. Not only that, he also published his autobiography under the title “Drohkaal Ka Pathik” and released it at a grand event in Delhi. Renowned filmmaker and director Muzaffar Ali, noted Hindi critic Namvar Singh, and Rajendra Yadav were the main guests at this event. Rajendra Yadav had praised the autobiography by writing its introduction. This basically meant that Pappu Yadav started posing a challenge to Lalu Yadav.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Pappu Yadav was not ready to succumb to pressures from Lalu Yadav. In this context, it seems appropriate to draw attention to some very sharp remarks written by Pappu Yadav about Lalu Yadav in his autobiography based on his experiences, nearly ten years ago. Pappu Yadav wrote, “Laluji did not pay any attention to the security and social dignity, economic development of the people of Bihar during his rule, but he proved that he is adept at the political game by placing relatives and in-laws at the top of the government in politics. In nepotism, familyism, and individualism, not only is Laluji not oppressive, but his name will be on top in the whole world. In the world’s largest and most mature democracy, he kept trying to make his wife, brother, brother-in-law, son, and daughter heirs.”
Recently, Pappu Yadav formally merged his Jan Adhikar Party with the Congress. However, a decade ago, he had opposed the Congress’ decision to share power with Lalu Prasad Yadav in his book. He wrote, “Gandhi, Nehru, Indira, Rajiv Gandhi were once ideals for the Congress, but now Lalu and Rabri have become their ideals. Lalu, for the sake of Bihar’s government, handed over the responsibility of breaking any party to his two sons and other leaders. He became adept at betrayal, rape, murder, kidnapping, extortion, vehicle theft, and forced recovery crimes.” Anyway, in these Lok Sabha elections, Pappu Yadav was not fielded by the Congress, and has filed his nomination from Purnia as an Independent candidate. He will now have to face the mixed political gunpowder of the Lalu family, especially Tejashwi Yadav, and the Gandhi family, especially Rahul Gandhi. It has to be seen if he succeeds.