Rupauli Bypolls In Purnia: RJD Paid For Its Yuvraj’s Misadventure

In the much-awaited bypolls for Rupauli Vidhan Sabha constituency in Bihar's Purnia district, Bima Bharti — candidate supported by Pappu Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress — came embarrassingly third.

Bharti, wife of strongman Awdhesh Mandal, won assembly election from Rupauli in 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020. Just before general elections (GE), 2024, Bharti traded her 'MLAship' for a Lok Sabha ticket from RJD.

After losing the election, she asked the people of Rupauli to vote her back. Instead, people of Rupauli went for Shankar Singh, an independent candidate. This is a deja vu moment for both Bharti and Singh. Even last time (in 2005) when Singh was member of legislative assembly (MLA) from Rupauli, he was there because of beating Bharti.

However, seven months later, Singh, then representing Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) was beaten by Bharti again.

Back in the day, Singh was the face of one of the fronts of three-front dominance war between Yadavs, Rajputs and backward class communities in Purnia.

Singh became leader of North Bihar Liberation Army (NBLA), formed in the aftermath of growing dominance of Yadavs under Pappu Yadav in Purnia. NBLA was formed by Butan Singh, husband of Lesi Singh — current MLA from Dhamdaha. After Butan Singh’s assassination, Shankar Singh took charge.

Though NBLA was initially Rajput dominated, all sections of the forward caste supported it — primarily because of increased caste-based violence on them from people under the patronage of then RJD government in Bihar.

Under Shankar Singh, NBLA groomed Uday Pappu Singh, brother of economist Nand Kishore Singh for political representation. Pappu Singh represented Purnia Lok Sabha between 2004 and 2014.

As violent incidents declined, Shankar Singh also ventured into politics. Despite constantly losing from Rupauli, Singh did not give up. Even when LJP decided to not give him a ticket, Singh contested as independent — just like his old rival Pappu Yadav did in multiple general elections.

For Singh, Raupauli is never a favourable seat to begin with. Singh can remain confident of only forward caste votes. Rupauli has only 20,000-25,000 forward caste voters, same as that of Vaishya community.  Muslims and Yadavs (M-Y) combined are 45,000-50,000 in numbers. Around 30,000-35,000 votes of Kurmi-Koeri are also there.

Highest share in population is of Gangota community, who comprise more than 50,000 votes. Gangotas, classified as extremely backward classes, are mainly landless labourers and cultivators.

Bima Bharti belongs to the same community, which explains why she kept winning from this seat. In the bypoll, Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) also declared Kaladhar Mandal, a teacher by profession and Gangot by caste identity as its candidate. The fight was supposed to be between these two candidates.

The expectation was that only two types of people would vote for Singh — forwards and LJP cadre who are loyal to Singh despite their party not wanting it.

The third factor which Singh could rely on was anti-incumbency against Bharti. Apart from her caste, Bharti’s winnability in Rupauli  was decided by fear of her husband Awdhesh Mandal. As law caught up with him in the late 2010s, people learned to speak against Bharti and her husband. 

When Swarajya was in Purnia covering Lok Sabha elections, even people sitting outside her house had no qualms in telling that she had not done anything for the public.

JD(U) is also aware of it, which is why it threw its weight behind Kaladhar Mandal. Nitish Kumar and multiple ministers in his cabinet campaigned for Kaladhar Mandal in Rupauli.

However, for Shankar Singh, indirect support came from unexpected corners. For one, Shankar Singh is quite active in Rupauli and known for helping people. He also has indirect support from Lesi Singh, MLA from nearby Dhamdaha constituency. Seeing development in Dhamdaha, people of Rupauli wish for Lesi Singh to represent them in Bihar assembly.

Secondly, people from LJP cadre not just voted, but even campaigned for him.

Thirdly, cracks in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive (INDI) Alliance helped him in a big way. Muslims in Rupauli (even whole of Purnia) are miffed with Tejashwi Yadav for asking his supporters to vote for National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate, instead of Pappu Yadav in the general election. 

They vowed to not vote for someone RJD would field. Due to an allergic relation with NDA because of BJP’s presence in it, they unanimously voted for Shankar Singh. Similarly, Yadav voters also drifted away from RJD. However, their allegiance was divided between NDA and Singh.

Even Pappu Yadav’s appeal could not do any magic. Yadav’s cadre was never in favour of supporting Bharti, despite that he decided to air his support for Bharti. But cadre did not buzz and literally refused to campaign for Bharti.

Later after the defeat, Yadav wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he respected Congress’ dignity — hinting that he supported Bharti only because RJD forced Congress to get him on board. In the same post, he also attacked Tejashwi Yadav and said that people of Rupauli did not like his stubbornness.

On ground, except for RJD, no party from INDI Alliance — be it Left parties or Congress — sent its cadre to campaign. 

At the time when Gangot votes were up for division between Bharti and Mandal, RJD needed a consolidated approach. But, Tejashwi Yadav's appeal against Pappu Yadav spoiled any chance of unity in INDI Alliance.