BJP serves body blow to Pappu Yadav

PURNIA: The resounding re-election of Uday Singh, alias Pappu Singh, from Purnia parliamentary constituency is as much a matter of celebration for the BJP as it marks a body blow to the might of the controversial and murder convict Pappu Yadav who, sphinx-like was rearing his head and flexing his muscle in Purnia as well as Kosi divisions after he was enlarged on bail by Patna High Court.
The BJP nominee, Pappu Singh, who won the 2004 LS poll by a margin of some 12,000 votes, has retained it by a whopping majority of over 1,86,000 votes.
Pappu Yadav, who was denied the opportunity to contest the poll by the court, pulled a kind of rabbit out of his hat, and planted his mother Shantipriya to take on his old arch rival Pappu Singh.
The humiliating defeat of Shantipriya as an Independent, who enjoyed the Congress' unstinted support, also underscores the decimation of Pappu factor across these two divisions of Purnia and Kosi after he was enlarged on bail by Patna High Court (HC).
If his mother, a political greenhorn, was trounced in Purnia, his wife Ranjita Ranjan, to rub salt to his injury, who suddenly swapped political affiliation by ditching the LJP and jumping on the Congress bandwagon, too failed to retain the LS membership.
A political observer said, "The dream of Pappu Yadav, who tried to hijack and monopolize the M-Y factor of Lalu Prasad and accentuate his political hegemony, has been thoroughly shattered. The voters did not want Purnia to slip back into the morass of lawlessness and crimes."
Talking of his euphoric victory, Pappu Singh told the reporters outside the counting centre at Purnia College, "I am thankful that the voters of Purnia have reposed their confidence in the NDA." Reaffirming his pledge that he would strive to serve the voters in a better way, Pappu Singh said, "I would certainly concentrate on further development of the constituency." He conceded voters wanted peace and progress.
Halfway through the counting, Independent candidate Shantipriya, did appear to concede her defeat. Looking composed, she remarked, "Dekhenge jo bhi hota hai (Let us see what happens)."
A BJP worker and poll campaign manager, Binodanand Jha, while counting of votes was still in progress, was quite confident and was quite sure of making a record of sorts.