Constituency watch: Purnia – RJD’s winning chances are in risk after Pappu Yadav’s admission into the contest

More attention has been paid to Purnia in the Seemanchal area than to the other four Lok Sabha seats in Bihar that will be decided in the second round of voting on Friday.

The person hogging the spotlight is three-time MP Pappu Yadav, rather than JD (U) MP Santosh Kushwaha and RJD candidate Bima Bharti. The RJD’s hopes of winning the seat for the first time are in risk due to Pappu, who is running as an Independent after the INDIA bloc refused to give him a ticket.

His announcement to join the Congress last month sparked initial media attention since it was thought the party would nominate him from the district. However, RJD, a Mahagathbandhan ally of the Congress, refused to cede the district.

Pappu is expected to affect the JD(U) base of advance castes, OBCs, and extremely backward classes (EBCs) more than the RJD’s traditional support base of Muslims and Yadavs, who combined have more than six lakh votes.

RJD leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav has turned Pappu’s strong campaign reaction into a prestige issue.

Tejashwi addressed the audience, “Let the JD(U) win if you are not supporting Bima Bharati,” as he canvassed support for Bharti. Vote for the RJD or the NDA, please.

According to RJD sources, Pappu had said in 2015 that he would leave politics if Tejashwi won an election. A top RJD leader said, “This has hurt him a lot and that anger has not subsided to this day.”

According to Purnia resident Vinod Banbasi of the Musahar clan, “Pappu will make a dent in RJD’s vote base.”

Pappu said, “My name is Purnia. To me, Purnia is everything. Why is Tejashwi, the son of Lalu Yadav, seeking Purnia? Their primary focus need to be on winning Patna Saheb. To observe the immense public support I get, those who attempted to politically destroy me need to visit this location.

The seats of Kishanganj, Katihar, Banka, and Bhagalpur will also cast ballots on April 26.

essential statistics

13.05 lakh: The total number of voters

6.88 L: Man

6.17 L: Female

Total number of contestants: 4

Date of voting: April 26

Examine the past (LS poll, 2019)

Winner: Janata Dal (United)’s Santosh Kumar

Total votes cast: 6,32,924

Congressman Uday Singh is the closest competitor.

Total votes cast: 3,69,463