Pappu Yadav urges RJD supremo Lalu to leave Purnia seat for Congress

Aksheev Thakur

New Delhi, April 1

According to the seat-sharing formula between the grand alliance, the Congress has not got Purnia Lok Sabha constituency. However, on Monday, former MP Pappu Yadav urged RJD supremo Lalu Yadav to forgo Purnia for the Congress.

Pappu, who merged his Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) less than a fortnight ago, made the announcement on X, a day before Bima Bharti, the RJD candidate from Purnia, was likely to file her nomination from the seat.

He announced that he will file the nomination on April 4. “People from across the country, hailing from Purnia, can join me during the filing of nomination papers. For their convenience, the proposed date has been deferred from June 2 to June 4.”

Pappu has represented Purnia thrice since the 1990s. Even before the official announcement of the seat-sharing formula, he has been campaigning in the constituency since months.

Neither Congress nor RJD have announced all their candidates in Bihar till now.

On Sunday, former Congress state president Anil Sharma quit the party, voicing disgust over the inclusion of Pappu in the fold and said the Congress was stuck in a “disastrous” partnership with the RJD.

“Pappu Yadav was virtually felicitated at the national headquarters. On top of it, Congress is upset that Lalu has thwarted its attempt to give Pappu Yadav a ticket. Instead, it should have thought about many better candidates, who were not getting a chance because the top leadership cannot assert itself before the RJD,” he said.

According to sources, after the Congress Central Election Committee’s (CEC) meeting on Sunday, names of Mohammad Jawed and Tariq Anwar for Bihar’s Kishanganj and Katihar Lok Sabha seats, respectively, have been cleared. Jawed is the sitting MP from Kishanganj.

Discussions on Bhagalpur Lok Sabha seat in Bihar have been put on hold.