JD(U) banks on division of M-Y votes in Madhepura

MADHEPURA: Known as the land of B P Mandal of Mandal Commission fame, Madhepura has turned into a Yadav battlefield as all the three main contenders in the fray are from the same caste. Madhepura will vote in the third phase of Lok Sabha election on April 23.
While sitting MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav has been trying to visit almost all households in every village, Sharad Yadav of RJD is banking on the party’s traditional Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) vote bank.JD(U), which has fielded state disaster management minister Dinesh Chandra Yadav, hopes to benefit from the division of Yadav votes and expects support from the ‘pachpaniyas’ comprising mostly the extremely backward castes.
Pappu, who had contested the 2014 general election on RJD ticket and won against Sharad, then a JD(U) candidate, is facing threat from the same M-Y combination this time. Pappu was expelled from RJD in 2015 for making unpleasant remarks against senior party functionaries. He tried hard but failed to get a Congress ticket.
Since Sharad joined hands with RJD chief Lalu Prasad after remaining the JD(U) president for a long time, seems to have made Madhepura a prestige issue and has been camping here for nearly 10 days to garner support for his party nominee Dinesh. Nitish mostly stays at JD(U) MLC Lallan Sarraf’s house in Madhepura town and is expected to use it as his base camp till electioneering ends for the fourth phase of election slated for April 29.
“Madhepura is definitely a hot seat. It is considered that the party or alliance which wins Madhepura makes a strong claim over most of the constituencies in Kosi region. As far as Nitish-ji is concerned, he has been making Madhepura his base camp for covering Kosi and Seemanchal region since 2005 state assembly elections,” said Nikhil Mandal, the JD(U) spokesperson and grandson of B P Mandal.
Nitish might be camping at Madhepura during elections, but its roads, Madhepra town, particularly those connecting the town with neighbouring Saharasa, defies the CM’s claim of five-hour road connectivity to any part of the state from Patna.
Nonetheless, Nitish continues to ask for his “mehnatana” (wages) from the electors in Madhepura and its neighbouring constituencies for his hard work in Bihar during the last 15 years. He also takes potshots at his friend-turned-foe Sharad for taking “lantern” (RJD election symbol) in his hands.
Sharad, who won the Madhepura seat in 1991, 1996, 1999 and 2009, does not miss any opportunity to target either Nitish or PM Narendra Modi. In a public meeting in rural Madhepura, Sharad even said if Modi comes to power again, he would be either put in jail or shot dead. “They will not spare me,” Sharad said.
Pappu, on the other hand, targets both Sharad and Nitish. “Sharad represented Madhepura for around 15 years, but did nothing because he is an outsider. Nitish also can’t stand on his own; he needs support of someone or the other. But I am ‘Madhepura ka beta’ and youths of the constituency say Pappu is my Lalu and NaMo,” the outgoing MP told TOI.
Electors also find it tough to make a decision about the candidates. “Pappu is accessible and helps people irrespective of caste. But he has also not done much work in the constituency,” said Jitendra Bhagat of Baijnathpur under Sonbarsa Soha panchayat.
However, Pappu has a good number of young supporters. “Pappu is a local leader. Sharad’s security guards will not allow us to meet him. And we have never seen Dinesh Chandra Yadav,” said Joginder Sharma, a young labourer at Murho village.
There are others who think the actual fight is between Sharad and Dinesh. “Pappu’s role will be limited to getting not more than 10% of the nearly 40% of Yadav votes in this constituency. The real fight is between Sharad and Dinesh. While Sharad is relying on M-Y votes of RJD, Dinesh is banking on ‘pachpaniya’ castes voters, who are loyal to Nitish. Besides, he is also relying on forward caste votes due to JD(U)’s alliance with BJP,” said advocate Rajendra Kumar at Araria.
While electors continue to ponder over the candidates, it is certain that the winner will be a Yadav and the adage will still be relevant that ‘Rome Pope ka aur Madhepura Gope ka’.