New Delhi : Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh has complained to the party high command against Pappu Yadav filing his nomination from the Purnia Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate but any action in the matter may not be possible.
“The Bihar unit chief is of the view that Pappu Yadav filing his nomination as an independent after RJD got the Purnia seat is against the spirit of the alliance. Hence, action should be taken against him. However, the problem is that Pappu Yadav is not even a member of the Congress party yet,” a senior AICC functionary said.
According to party insiders, Pappu Yadav announced the merger of his Jan Adhikar Party with the Congress on March 20 and had been hoping to get a ticket from Purnia which he has represented thrice in the past.
However, soon after Pappu’s move, the RJD, which wanted him to contest on their party ticket, started playing games and announced ex JD-U MLA Bima Bharti as its nominee from Purnia.
Sandwiched between the Congress and the RJD, Pappu urged the RJD to support him but when it did not work out, he went ahead and filed his nomination as an independent on April 4.
Yadav’s nomination rally was not attended by any Congress bigwigs but a large number of party workers carrying the party flag attended the event in a show of strength. The issue has left the Bihar Congress divided and could sour the grand old party’s ties with the RJD.
“We should have got the Purnia seat but we were made to sacrifice for the sake of the alliance. Pappu has been working hard in his seat for years and has a strong chance of winning,” a senior AICC functionary said.
The problem, he said, was that in the hustle-bustle of coalition politics, Pappu could not obtain a formal membership of the Congress party by registering himself at the Bihar PCC office.
Party insiders said that the Bihar unit chief was not happy over Pappu Yadav merging his outfit with the Congress and had deliberately missed the event at the AICC headquarters.
Now, the Bihar unit chief is citing the example of ex-IPS officer Nikhil Kumar, who wanted to contest from Aurangabad seat on a Congress ticket but did not file his nomination as an independent when the seat went to the RJD quota.
“The matter is with the high command which will take an appropriate action as per party constitution. What Pappu Yadav did was against the spirit of alliance. When he announced the merger of his party with Congress, he became a member. Whether he withdraws or not is up to him,” Bihar Congress Working President Ashok Kumar told ETV Bharat.
“The alliance will do very well in the state and the Congress will win several seats of the 9 it is contesting,” he said.
The Bihar alliance took a while to be finalized as both the Congress and the RJD hard bargained the distribution of total 40 Lok Sabha seats. The 9 seats of Congress are Kishanganj, Katihar, Bhagalpur, Samastipur, West Champaran, Patna Sahib, Sasaram and Maharajganj. Besides Purnia, the Congress had also been demanding Aurangabad and Begusarai.
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