Madhepura in Kosi belt of North-East Bihar appears to be the only constituency where there is neither NaMo wave nor Nitish Kumar’s development plank and no takers of lalu Prasad’s electoral M-Y flight. Here, in the Yadav bastion of Bihar, RJD candidate Pappu Yadav is the only popular candidate among the voters. “Pappu pass ho gaya hai and polls are just a formality now,” is the common refrain in Madhepura.
The new catchphrase reeling in Madhepura ishar har Pappu, ghar ghar Pappu…sabke dilon mein hain Pappu and the RJD candidate appears to have left his rival candidates way behind in the poll race. It was tough to find anyone talking about other candidates in the fray, where Yadavs have been traditionally winning the poll since 1952, with the sole exception of Acharya Kripalani who was elected from Madhepura in 1957.
Madhepura is also the land of the architect of the Mandal Commission report — BP Mandal — and the district is famously known for its socialist pattern of political choice. Earlier, almost all the Yadav titans from lalu Yadav to Sharad Yadav to Pappu Yadav have been winning lok Sabha polls from Madhepura. It was like Rome Pope ka, Madhepura Gope ka (what Rome is to Pope, Madhepura is for Yadavs) the constituency has all along been known for as the Yadavs, the majority caste, have been deciding the electoral prospect of the candidates here.
The Yadavs constitute about 3.30 lakh votes whereas the Muslim voters are 1.80 lakh in Madhepura constituency with Rajput, Brahmins and others together forming about 5 lakh votes. “Even Muslims are strong supporters of Pappu Yadav in this constituency, not for their anti-Modi sentiment or their traditional loyalty to lalu Yadav but for Pappu Yadav’s personal touch,” said Mohd Manzoor Alam of town panchayat.
Other candidates in the fray from the constituency are JD(U) president and sitting MP Sharad Yadav, BJP’s Vijay Kumar Kushwaha, husband of suspended JD(U) MlA Renu Kushwaha — but both the candidates appear to be way behind in the race against the RJD heavyweight. Pappu was recently acquitted from Patna High Court in connection with the murder case of CPI(M) leader Ajit Sarkar of Purnea.
It is usually believed that Pappu Yadav was responsible for Sharad Yadav’s easy win in 2009 lok Sabha poll through his men and supporters. Sharad has won four times from Madhepura. However, this time the electoral equation and political chemistry has changed with the BJP snapping ties with the JD(U).
Pappu, however, has just come out of jail and is contesting with another Yadav titan — lalu Yadav — by his side.
Seeing the electoral scene going one sided in favour of Pappu, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has camped in Madhepura till April 28. Nitish has been sweating hard in Kosi area to ensure his party’s victory from here, especially for party president Sharad Yadav.
Feeling the heat of Pappu wave Sharad Yadav on Thursday visited Panchgachhia village to seek the blessings of incarcerated strongman Anand Mohan Singh’s mother. It was apparently a desperate move by the JD(U) candidate to woo the upper caste Rajput votes.
“But, these moves by Sharad and Nitish, to camp in Madhepura, will boomerang on them as it is largely seen as a last time bid to tilt the trend in their favour,” said Rajiv Ranjan Yadav of Murliganj while adding “why would the people waste their votes over a candidate who is bound to loseIJ”.
At Murliganj, people even asked Pappu not to come for campaigning as “he doesn’t need to.” “Kya zaroorat hai unko yahan aane ki…ek bhi vote idhar se udhar nahi hoga is bar…Pappu chunav to jeet chuke hain Madhepura se..sirf result baki hai,” said Rudra Narayan Yadav.
When asked why there is only Pappu wave reeling in Madhepura, the common word was “He, as a local, has always been available during our good and bad times”. There were many stories about how he has helped the locals both in terms of better medical facilities and during a financial crisis.
“Even from jail he has been ensuring help to us through his men. How can we forget all that he has done for usIJ,” said Bihari Shah, a farmer of Dumaria village in Murliganj whose ill son was not only admitted in AIIMS-Delhi but also received financial help from him. Similarly, Vikram Singh and laddu Singh of Sakhua village have only praises for Pappu.
The deluge of Kosi is also another factor going against the JD(U) candidate. The signs of Kosi flood devastations are still visible in the constituency and so the Nitish Government has been under the scanner for lack of rehabilitation.
“Nitish only helped Mahadalits and EBCs as if Yadavs simply don’t exist for him. He neglected Madhepura during Kosi flood only because its Yadav dominated,” claimed Satyanarayan Yadav in Murliganj. “But, we’ll teach him a lesson now, his candidate Sharad Yadav will not even get 10,000 votes,” said Umesh Yadav of Pakilpar village.
But what about BJP candidate Vijay Kumar Kushwaha and the NaMo wave he apparently is banking upon. “He may even get more votes than Sharad Yadav… but there is no NaMo wave here in Madhepura… only Pappu wave,” they said in one voice.
Madhepura was also one of the worst affected districts by Kosi flood, including villages like Kolhai Patti, Hariharpur kala, Dhalahi, Dighi and Rajauni, which were swept away in the flood but “they themselves laboured hard to take life on track”.
Ranjeet Ranjan, , said the voters, had worked tirelessly for their rehabilitation and other relief measures during Kosi deluge. “We’re indebted to her that she came to us riding on a boat to provide relief material,” said Dimple Paswan of Kumarkhand.
Meanwhile, he inaccessibility and unapproachable tag attached to JD(U) candidate Sharad Yadav is also riding high against him. “He is an outsider and after winning the poll he hardly comes here to meet us. He says he is a national leader and doesn’t bother about local issues,” charged a group of villagers at Triveniganj chauraha.
“He even doesn’t remember name of the places where he visits to address the public rallies…what’s the use of casting our vote to such a candidate,” asked Ravindra Yadav of Triveniganj.
Ranjeet Ranjan — wife of Pappu Yadav — contesting from neighboring Supaul constituency on Congress ticket - has also been giving sleepless nights to her rival Kameshwar Chaupal of the BJP.