JD(U) on verge of losing crucial Madhepura

Published here
Saharsa, April 29

From the EC120 Eurocopter, Sharad Yadav pointed to the Kosi and a bridge across it. "I had it built," he said, with the authority of someone who has won four times from Madhepura since 1991.

Later, he spoke of the 3.59 km bridge, connecting Baluha Ghat and Gandual and inaugurated last December, at Amarpura in Kehra block. "Give me your vote based on what we have done," he said, "we" being him and the government led by the Janata Dal (United), of which he is national president. However, Yadav had no answer when a member of the crowd started heckling him over an unbuilt plus-two school. "My job as an MP is to look after the big projects," he told the crowd, as an intended answer. At the end of his speech - a schoolmasterly one - he asked the crowd if all of them would vote for the arrow his party's symbol. Some people merely crossed their arms and smiled sheepishly.

A lot is at stake for Sharad Yadav and his party at Madhepura. With the JD(U) expected to take heavy losses this general elections, there is an urgency to protect the home bases: Nalanda, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's home constituency, and Madhepura. CM Kumar himself came to embody this desperation when he camped at Madhepura town from April 18 to 28, having files sent over from Patna by special messengers and campaigning for his party's president.

However, it does not seem to be adding up for Sharad Yadav. Kumar's vikas, which once lent credibility to the JD(U) claim of jamaat over jaat, has slowed down and threatens to dry up. "He always thought that dealing with day-to-day affairs was always below him. Dealing with big projects works if there are party MLAs doing groundwork. We had only three MLas in the six assembly constituencies of the area; one has left now," said a JD(U) leader. The MLA who left is not quite out of the doorway yet - former Industries Minister Renu Kushwaha has been suspended by the JD(U) for campaigning for Vijay Kumar Singh, who is the BJP's candidate.

Yadav, who built his political career by riding on the mass appeal of others, has only the Mahadalit votebank created by Kumar to fall back on. "He always won by eating a little into the Muslim-Yadav votebank of the RJD and then getting our votes. That's how he famously defeated Lalu [Prasad Yadav] in 1999. Where will he get that now?" asked a former BJP MLA from the area. It was alleged that BJP's Singh, who had never contested elections, was a dummy candidate - a result of Yadav's close association with BJP leaders that also saw him become the NDA Convenor. However, the BJP has fought hard to protect its votebanks and attract youngsters, making Madhepura a triangular contest. "When I was in Patna discussing ticket distribution, we were quite relieved that there was no BJP organisation in Madhepura. I returned to see many people willing to support them," said the JD(U) leader.

In search of a victory, Yadav has been pushed to do things he would not have done otherwise, like going to murder-convict, Rajput Bahubali and former MP Anand Mohan's house to seek his mother's blessings. "Why do you call him Bahubali? Anand Mohan is a goonda. His brother Madan Singh works for our party; that's why I went there," said Yadav when asked. Most of his expletive-laden answer cannot be printed, and his inability to assimilate has become a headache for the Madhya Pradesh-born Yadav's campaign managers: he rarely uses aap, prefers tu and does not speak Maithili.

In contrast is the soft-spoken Rajesh Ranjan, the RJD candidate behind whom the Muslims and Yadavs have lined up once again. Dressed in a full-sleeved pink-and-white striped shirt and white linen trousers, he stood deferentially before the crowd at Banma Itahri block's Gordor village's madrasa, sampling from the many plates of snacks before him. "You have kept so much food before me; it's hard not to eat it all," he said to laughter. At the end of a speech, during which he seemed to be mumbling to himself, he said, "The same thought that inspired Mohammad Saheb drives me. Pappu is the name of the one who will help the last man." Thunderous applause followed.

Pappu is also the man who was convicted of a murder in 2008 before being acquitted last year by the Patna High Court. Even as he faces an appeal in the Supreme Court, Pappu Yadav has 24 cases - including a charge of murder - to keep him company. "Lalu Yadav has given the lantern [RJD's poll symbol] to a bulldozer and asked it to come after me," said Sharad Yadav at Amarpura. His reputation as a Bahubali precedes Pappu. "I have been noticing an anti-Pappu wave in the last two days. People, like the vaishyas, who remember the violence unleashed by his people during Pappu's peak, will hopefully come over to us," said the JD(U) leader.

Pappu, large and towering, also has a proportionally large heart, according to his supporters. "The M-Y equation might work for Lalu, but I am a servant of all people here," said Pappu as his open jeep made the last campaign trip through predominantly Muslim areas of Saharsa on April 28 evening, an hour a supporter described as, "one hour, 5000 votes."

Pappu was not well and everyone seemed to know this. "He has gone to the bathroom," said a middle-aged man at the entrance to Chotta Gordor village. Even as he sipped a chilled ORS solution, Pappu sampled everything kept before him by waiting crowds. In between, he finds time to signal that if elected, the violence might re-start. However, as opposed to the past, when his gangs fought the Rajputs, a new enemy waits Pappu. "I want to end the injustice being perpetrated by the Nitish government. They have placed Mahadalit dalals in each government office. Their people are in control. I want to end that," he said.