PATNA: Bihar’s Opposition Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) chief and MP Pappu Yadav on Thursday bitterly attacked RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and said JAP would not ally with RJD for the Lok Sabha polls next year.
Tejashwi Yadav, who virtually controls RJD since his father and party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was jailed and then became ailing, had criticised Pappu Yadav for the violent protests by JAP activists during Bharat Bandh on Monday. Tejashwi, 29, currently the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly, had even called Pappu “an agent of BJP”.
“People born with a golden spoon and active in politics only on the sympathy factor are calling me a BJP agent… RJD means Lalu Prasad Yadav, and the party will end with him. His family is responsible for his present condition,” said Pappu Yadav, the 50-year-old five-term MP, who currently represents Madhepura constituency in Lok Sabha.
Claiming that he respects Lalu, Pappu said none of the RJD chief’s family members wants him to come out of jail. “They all want Lalu Yadav’s total end,” said Pappu, who owes his rise in politics to his proximity to the RJD chief.
“RJD has always conducted its politics by exploiting the Yadavs and minorities and showing people the bogey of BJP. People who fail to control their own family are now calling me a BJP agent. I am sending legal notices to these people,” said Pappu, whose official name is Rajesh Ranjan.
He also made it clear that JAP would contest the LS polls next year by allying with like-minded parties, but it would have no alliance with RJD. Sources said while Lalu Prasad Yadav wants JAP as a partner in the RJD-headed grand alliance, Tejashwi Yadav has been opposing the idea.
Pappu Yadav was elected to Lok Sabha on an RJD ticket in 2014 by beating JD(U) stalwart Sharad Yadav in Madhepura. After he was expelled from RJD in May 2015 for anti-party activities, he formed JAP. He is the husband of Congress MP Ranjeeta Ranjan, who represents Bihar’s Supaul constituency.
The ruling JD(U) targeted RJD over its relations with Pappu Yadav. “If Pappu is against RJD’s policies, why has RJD not petitioned the Lok Sabha Speaker so far to terminate his membership of the House? RJD’s jailed chief had given a party ticket to Pappu in 2014 even though Pappu had mentioned in his affidavit that the courts had taken cognisance of 24 criminal cases lodged against him,” said JD(U) MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar.