Bihar: The Election That Was Purnia

It won’t be an exaggeration to call Purnia the underdog of Bihar. The Lok Sabha constituency is culturally rich, socially heterogeneous, intellectually sophisticated, yet lacks its deserved relevance in contemporary politics. 

In the ongoing elections though, Purnia is perhaps the most talked-about constituency in Bihar. It witnessed a triangular contest between the NDA, INDI Alliance, and the Independent, Pappu Yadav.

Purnia voted in the second phase on 26 April. Swarajya visited the constituency a few days before that.

“This time money is flowing like water. Administration can’t do much about it,” said a daily-wage worker, having his lunch (litti) at Kajha chowk.

Politics And People In Purnia

Purnia has six assembly constituencies namely Kasba, Banmankhi, Rupauli, Dhamdaha, Purnia and Korha. Korha is in Katihar district. Rupauli and Kasba, whose members of legislative assemblies (MLAs) are Bima Bharti from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Md Afaque Alam from Congress.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds sway over three assembly constituencies, while Leshi Singh of Janata Dal (United) or (JD(U)) is MLA from Dhamdaha.

Updated data in public domain indicate that Hindus comprise 60 per cent of Purnia voter base while the share of Muslims, concentrated in Kasba, Kodha and Banmankhi is around 40 per cent. Out of the Muslims, Shershabadis, who came here from other places, including Bangladesh, also have a considerable share.

Among Hindus, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are around 16 per cent of the total voter base, while 14 per cent are the 'forwards', who are mainly concentrated in Purnia, Rupauli and Dhamdaha Vidhan Sabha segments. Yadav voters are nearly 7-10 per cent of total population. Paswans and Baniyas are also key to electoral success here.

The Snapshot Of Purnia

Purnia is one of the centres of Mithilanchal region of Bihar. It also lies at the heart of the contentious Seemanchal region mainly consisting of Kishanganj, Purnia, Araria and Katihar. Apart from aforementioned districts, people from Bhagalpur, Forbesganj, Madhepura and Supaul also come here in search for more opportunities and better options.

The road connectivity here is one of the best in the whole of Bihar and nearby West Bengal. Even in the remotest village, one can travel and come back at night safely. For connectivity between assembly constituencies, state and national highways are regularly maintained. Police constantly keep a watch on these highways to ensure a smooth journey.

Road connectivity is one of the reasons why access to education is becoming easier for households. In villages, one can see young students studying with English-medium books in schools as well as tuitions. “I teach all subjects, but my primary focus is on improving their English, so that even if they do bad in academics, they are employable on soft skills,” said Pankaj Kumar, a teacher in Ganeshpur.

Ganeshpur falls under Dhamdaha, whose MLA is Leshi Singh. Dhamdaha’s villages are one of the most modernised ones in Purnia. Ganeshpur has its own petrol pump. There is not much need for government intervention here for welfare since maize production, which became a trend nearly a decade ago, has uplifted income of farmers in an unprecedented way. 

“Maize production changed our fortunes in such a way that we now even go to foreign countries. However, makhana production tends to take a hit, but corn remains a saving grace,” said Paramjit Kumar Mandal, who runs his own agri products-based shop.

Farmers use their money to spend on their kids’ education. The main problem for them is that after Class X or XII, children have to be sent to Patna, Kota or main Purnia city. But alternatives are also coming up, even in villages. 

Witnessing the changing trend and awareness for education, Kamal Kishore Choudhary, a retired professor, has returned to his own village to open a school. Local MLA Leshi Singh was called to cut the ribbon. The school currently enrols students upto junior level. The plans to expand it and take affiliation from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will be executed in the near future. 

When asked about what made it possible, Choudhary, who grew up in a communist household said, “It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 10 years ago, no one could think to teach their children in villages, because they did not have enough to eat. Modi has given them houses, gas, electricity, water, toilets, law and order and what not. Now they can think beyond that.” 

What Problems Does Purnia Have?

The journey of the non-agricultural sectors of Purnia matches that of India’s economic trajectory in the sense that before manufacturing, Purnia is witnessing a burst of the service sector.

Roaming around Bhatta Bazar, Line Bazar, Rambagh, places en route Bhootnath Road and many other places, one can see hotel chains, guest houses, automobile showrooms, restaurants, fast food chains, small shop owners earning handsome profits from their old traditional sweets. Not to forget, sprawling hospitals.

While this should not have been a problem for locals, it did become one for two main reasons. Firstly, the service sector generates less jobs and also requires more skilled workers. Secondly, one can easily see people from other districts of Bihar, Bengal, Bangladesh and even Nepal employed there. 

This has given birth to problems related to unemployment in Purnia. A vast section of youth now finds peace in drug addiction. For poor kids, railway tracks are spots for what they term as BVC (buddhi vardhak churna), while for the more affluent ones, tea shops run by their friend or someone of their own age is that place.

Two more problems, which are rampant and are the main reasons for the rise of someone like Pappu Yadav as a formidable force, are government corruption and high medical fees.

Mohammed Afroz, a person sitting outside Bima Bharti’s house in Rupauli said, “We poor people can’t do a simple mutation of properties due to it. Even for the government benefit we get, these officers have fixed their cuts."

“Due to not acceding to their demands, I can’t make my voter ID. Even in 2024, I won’t be able to vote,” said Khaleel-ur Rehman. When asked about how he would sort it, Rehman says, “Once I give Rs 500, everything will be alright”.

Shopkeepers in Khuskibaad, a place which is considered as BJP’s stronghold said that Pappu Yadav lines them (government officials) up on one phone call and their problems get sorted.

Yadav is also feared among doctors for allegedly capping doctors' fees. Ram Kumar Chaudhary, a garland shop owner in Khuskibaad said that Purnia is the hub of medicals in the region. “The quality of medical service is so high that if someone is referred to other hospitals from Purnia, then that person can only be treated in Patna or Kolkata."

When doctors realised this power, they allegedly started charging higher. “Once my father was ill. In Purnia, they told me that it would cost around Rs 1.75 lakh. I had only Rs 35,000. I booked an ambulance, went to Paras Hospital in Patna, got him treated and came back. Even after the whole trip, I was left with Rs 2,000. These doctors loot us. Whatever Pappu does with them is less as compared to what we have suffered in the past,” said Chaudhary.

Problem-Solvers In Fray

JD(U), a part of much larger National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has shown faith in Santosh Kumar Kushwaha for the third time in a row. He is an incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) from the seat. In 2014, he ended the 10-year domination of Uday Singh alias Pappu Singh from Purnia. 

Purnia was one of the two seats won by JD(U) after the party ended its alliance with BJP for choosing Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate. Their victory margin in Purnia only increased in 2019, even though Singh had switched his affiliation from BJP to Congress while Kushwaha was now in NDA, same as 2024.

People on the ground claimed that they voted for Kushwaha in 2019 for ‘double-engine support to Purnia’.

Common perception is that Kushwaha failed on this front. Talking to people in various assembly constituencies and witnessing rapid development, Swarajya found that locals credit these developments to proactive leadership of their MLAs. Some people claimed they did not even know who Santosh Kushwaha was.

That is because Kushwaha has largely remained absent from his constituency. In a constituency where it is common for MLAs and opposition candidates like Pappu Yadav to attend marriages and other social events, Kushwaha’s absence has not gone down well among masses.

“Except for a few glitters here and there and not troubling the business community, Kushwaha has done literally nothing in the constituency. He could not even get a much-deserved airport for the people of Purnia. Jabki airport khud Modi ji ne promise kiya tha. If a behemoth like Uday Singh was beaten from Purnia, how can he even think of cruising through in 2024,” said Shubhanjal, a media professional from Purnia.

When countered that Kushwaha has Modi’s blessings on him, Shubhanjal said, “That is only positive aspect of his campaign”.

The same feeling reverberated through party workers. During the wee hours of the campaign, Kushwaha did a rally. BJP and JD(U) workers were constantly shouting “Ab ki baar, 400 paar”. When Swarajya spoke to the cadres about the campaign and asked about the probabilities, a cadre said, “Modi ji ke karan majboor hain, pasand toh nahi hi hai”.

However, the trader community and the politics of Muslim votes can rescue Kushwaha. In Gulabbagh and Khuskibagh mandis, traders are believed to be overwhelmingly in support of the man aligned with BJP.

When Swarajya asked one person (belonging to OBC community) working at a shop, whom he will vote for, the man said Pappu Yadav. 

His colleague interjected and laughingly said, “he is only saying it, sir. The man will vote for Kushwaha or otherwise his job provider won’t give him salary”. When prodded further, he said that Pappu’s voters make noise while Kushwaha voters remain silent — a sentiment echoed at Kajha chowk as well.

Similarly, a section of Muslim community in Purnia is content and happy with lifestyle changes brought by the Modi government’s schemes.

In Kalijan village, Imtiaz said that Muslim men will vote for Pappu but Muslim women don’t state their affiliations — (a signal of their tilt towards BJP?).

He further added that despite no one being happy with Kushwaha, if he had contested from BJP ticket, the road would be much smoother for him.

One of the challengers of Kushwaha in the 26 April poll was Bima Bharti, Rupauli MLA and wife of Awadhesh Mandal. Bharti left JD(U) to join RJD.

She was more of a wild card entry and even people from her own constituency could not foresee her getting a Lok Sabha ticket. For them, Bharti and family were supposed to be recovering from the alleged murder of their son. 

While the national media made a buzz about her, on-ground support for Bharti did not live up to the hype. Like Kushwaha, Bharti was also known for being visible in the field. In front of her home are agricultural fields, adjacent to which is a small tea shop where people gather to discuss a multitude of issues, ranging from politics to personal life.

This writer sat in the shop. When asked about the status of government schemes, most of them answered in negative. As proof, they showed a dilapidated home and leaking water under Har Ghar Nal Jal Yojana.

When asked why they didn’t approach Bharti, they shook their heads in disappointment. On further pondering, an enthusiastic youth said, “You see if this is the state of public facilities, how can we expect her to deliver our private facilities.”

Curiosity drove us further towards Paswan toli, which was allegedly subjected to fire by Mandal and others. A resident, told us that Bharti is mainly elected on fear factor. He added that Mandal, her husband, has been taken by police on multiple occasions, despite the fear associated with him does not diminish.

Another reason why Bharti had been fielded was to stymie the chances of Pappu Yadav. Yadav has lots of 'formers' to his name — former bahubali, former RJD member, former close aide of Lalu Yadav and former MP of Purnia as well.

Of late though, Pappu Yadav focussed on shedding the negative reputation around him. Marriage, birthday parties, bhajans, kirtans, pooja, parties, iftar parties — Pappu is omnipresent in Purnia.

While these may be dismissed as attempts to grab attention, Yadav’s social outreach was seen to be bearing fruit. Javed Akhtar, one of the persons present in his rally said that he had come all the way from Madhepura to help Pappu Yadav win election in 2024. When asked for reasons, he told a story of how Pappu Yadav helped out 150 people known to him during Covid crisis.

“I called him, he picked up and told me to not call, rather send the Aadhar Card and other details of all those on WhatsApp. I sent and within days, all had arrived safely at their destination. Look I am a secular Muslim, I would help anyone who carries forward the message of humanity for all,” said Javed Akhtar.

Purnia’s political atmosphere is filled with similar stories. Almost everyone has one to tell — getting people hospitalised for cancer treatment, helping children attain higher education by funding their studies, assisting farmers in locating and selling in mandis, helping people during the Corona crisis, donating hefty sum in a daughter’s wedding and paying Rs 500 for buying a Rs 5 stuff, among others.

A similar sentiment was also recorded for MLA Leshi Singh. However, in one of her meetings, even Leshi Singh was told, “We will vote for you in 2025, but don’t ask for Kushwaha in 2024. You get the ticket, we will ensure you victory instead of Yadav, but not Kushwaha”.

Mohammed Sharafat in Rangpura village agreed with it. “The road you have travelled by was built under Singh. If she gets a call, she gets here quickly. Her arrival is delayed only if she is outside Purnia,” said Sharafat. We asked what issues he votes for, he said that if Leshi Singh would contest, he and his family would vote for her, since she has done what she promised.

Yadav’s Negatives

Despite vocal support, old people still tremble in the name of 'Jungle Raj'. Youth also surf the Internet for comparison and find that while Kushwaha has zero case against him, Yadav has been convicted on multiple occasions.

One of Yadav's supporters in Kasba said, “Yadav is not that calculative. He does everything according to mood, so gets caught and gets negative publicity. On the other hand, Kushwaha runs illegal liquor business and has whole system under his control, so no questions on him.”

Then there is Tejaswi Yadav. He has made it his mission to defeat Pappu Yadav. Watching how his (Tejaswi's) presence is not changing negative perception around Bima Bharti, Tejaswi has gone to the other extreme. He told people to vote for Kushwaha, but not for Pappu Yadav. 

As I am writing this on 25 April 2024, it is ‘qatal ki raat’ (one night before election) in Purnia. Liquor, money, chicken, mutton are allegedly being distributed. By the time you read it, the impact would have been made.

One thing is certain. Pappu Yadav was on his own while Santosh Kushwaha has pinned his hopes on the brand that is PM Modi.