PatnaAugust 25, 2025 02:29 PM IST
First published on: Aug 25, 2025 at 02:29 PM IST
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Images often tell a story, and two photographs, taken around two months apart, featuring Independent MP from Purnia Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav not only signal a thaw in his frosty ties with the RJD and its leader Tejashwi Yadav but also bear a seemingly deeper meaning.
On July 7, images of Pappu Yadav not being allowed to share the stage with Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi in Patna did the rounds. But visuals of the Purnia MP – whose overtures to the INDIA bloc have reportedly been thwarted by the RJD – embracing Tejashwi on Sunday in Araria while addressing him as “jannayak (people’s leader)” signalled a thaw in their frosty ties.
Many in poll-bound Bihar’s political circles believe that the real intention behind the Tejashwi-Pappu camaraderie is the Congress’s effort to get more seats from the RJD for the upcoming Assembly polls.
“It (the Tejashwi-Pappu Yadav) friendship could turn into a win-win situation for the Congress, which is finding it tough to get 70 seats like the 2020 Assembly polls. We can bargain for 7-10 more seats citing Pappu Yadav, who is seen to be influential in some seats of the Seemanchal-Kosi region like Purnia, Araria, Saharsa, Madhepura and Supaul. While the party is likely to get only 50 seats this time, Pappu Yadav’s influence could be used to take the number up to 60 while ensuring a good strike rate,” a senior Congress leader said on the condition of anonymity.
In 2020, despite the Mahagathbandhan – comprising the Congress, RJD and Left parties – falling only 12 seats shy of majority in the 243-member House, the Congress was considered the “weak link” of the alliance, winning only 19 of 70 seats it contested.
The Congress, seemingly aware that Pappu Yadav is capable of fielding his own candidates in the Seemanchal-Kosi belt, has invited him to some of its meetings in Delhi and Bihar.
Pappu Yadav, who often boasts of having the “blessings of Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra”, had merged his Jan Adhikar Party into the Congress ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, he was forced to contest as an Independent after the RJD refused to give up the seat. Proving that he was the “go-to man” in Purnia, Pappu Yadav eventually won the seat by over 23,000 votes while JD(U) sitting MP Santosh Kumar Kushwaha and RJD nominee Bima Bharti finished second and third respectively.
Since his victory, Pappu Yadav has been trying to cozy up to the Opposition alliance but has frequently come under attack from the RJD. However, this seems to have changed on August 17 in Rohtas as the Purnia MP met RJD chief Lalu Prasad on the sidelines of the launch of Rahul Gandhi’s Vote Adhikar Yatra in Rohtas.
On Sunday, as Tejashwi bent forward with folded hands to greet and embrace the Purnia MP, it was clear that the frosty ties had warmed. Pappu Yadav too looked to seize the opportunity and addressed Tejashwi as “jannayak”, a term recently used by the Congress for Rahul and widely used in reference to former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur, who was conferred the Bharat Ratna last year. Recently, the JD(U) had slammed the Congress for referring to Gandhi as “jannayak”.
A six-time MP (Purnia four times and Madhepura twice), Pappu Yadav’s influence is not unnoticed in RJD circles as well. “We do not know what transpired between the senior leaders of our party and the Congress but no one can deny his (Pappu Yadav’s) influence in the Seemanchal-Kosi belt. Last year, he proved it yet again by defeating the sitting JD(U) MP in Purnia,” a RJD leader said.