MP Rajesh Ranjan aka don Pappu Yadav is 'Robin Hood' prince now

Aap bhi Pappu banke ladiye he tells the crowd which might be an odd twist to BJPs Narendra Modi slogan Mein bhi chowkidaar Except Pappu isnt a derogatory reference to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Thats the name fivetime member of parliament Rajesh Ranjan urf Pappu Yadav 51 goes by over the land in and around Madhepura in northeastern Bihar he surveysOnce a dreaded don with close to 100 criminal cases registered against him ranging from kidnapping extortion to murder as per his election affidavit Pappu Yadav has served as lawmaker for six terms he started out as an MLA from these parts and is the lay of the land himselfIf anything as opposed to Rahuls reputation of a reluctant parttime politician Pappus name in the region I notice evokes awe rather than fear for the sort of untiring relentless effort he puts in to connect with his constituents all through the year village after village attending community functions inaugurations family weddings funerals mundan janau thread ceremonyHes just always at it his entourage complains to me He has 14 private assistants working shifts and still sleepless This along with Ycategory security detail that relocates every few months because they cant keep up with his punishing schedulePappu Yadav in blue likes to travel with his supporters on bikesSpotting the tigerHe starts at 6 am daily traversing across and sometimes gets done around 3 am currently canvassing for reelection in Madhepura on April 23 as an Independent candidate from the seat he won on a Congress ticket in 2014 Chasing Pappu down is a lot like spotting tiger in the wild trailing pugmarks left behindWith his itinerary in hand he has 40 sabhas gatheringsrallies listed for the day we trace his route from maintown Madhepura towards a village Chausa in the deep interiors asking pedestrians and shopkeepers Saansad kidhar wheres the MP They dutifully point to the direction of the wind We followIdeally it shouldnt be hard catching up with Pappu or even fleeing criminals on these spotty roads that are called National Highways but are essentially lunar craters There are portions of land on either side called denga pani or nomans land falling between adjoining police jurisdictions where legendary local Mafiosi Shankar Singh Anand Mandal Faizan could allegedly commit crimes lay back and chill Because cops among themselves conveniently couldnt decide whose job it was to nabWhile our vehicle performs calisthenics over potholes moving at around 20 kmh the FM radio plays an interview of actor Deepa Sahi who lists travelling as her passion The Wit in the backseat our guide Ashish Sona Yadav Pappus maternal uncle talks back Madam Travel here sometime Youll seriously reconsider your passionsAs we finally reach Chiruri by evening much further ahead of Chaura with crowds gathered for Pappus imminent arrival the same Wit tells us This village is prithivi earth in its original form having remained the same ever since This is only partly an exaggeration For there is nothing here outside of a mudtrack pond and permanent huts The nearest bazaar locals say is about 10 km away so they travel once in 20 days to procure suppliesThe motorcycle melaThe Saansads rep as the benevolent boss generous to a fault precedes him wherever we go hearing about a Seva Ashram he runs at his MPs bungalow in New Delhi where a thousand people from his constituency are fed for free everyday and passed on recommendations for treatment at AIIMS He has a similar setup in PatnaThis besides hard cash reccos pairavi he hands out when people who show up expressing imminent needs daughters shaadi daroga cop recruitment college fees etc But most importantly floodrelief given huge tracts of these lands get swept away by river Kosi practically every year He also possesses a strikingly sharp peoplememory Im toldIt is a little nerve racking to come facetoface with Pappu an overwhelmingly large man over a seemingly tiny motorbike as he stops at the turn in Chiruri We walk up say hi He later offers to have me on the back of his motorcycle while he carries on to village Payna right ahead where he is surrounded by the young and oldOn the portable loudspeaker he reminds the crowd that it isnt Modi Nitish Kumar or Lalu Prasad Yadav who stands by them all year only he does They cheer him on The region Seemanchal in Bihar comprising Madhepura Purnea Kishanganj and Araria had altogether overridden the 2014 Modi wave Pappu is up against fellowcaste candidates JDUs Dinesh Chandra Yadav and RJDs Sharad Yadav in whats a Yadavdominated constituency or as locals put it Rome mein Pope Madhepura mein GopePayna being Muslimmajority Pappu also tells the crowd about his wife Ranjeet Yadav who is bidding for reelection in the neighbouring Supaul on a Congress ticket Musalman bhai fida hain un parAlso ReadStung Congress torchbearer spurns party turns to Shiv SenaPappus new phaseHis chief assistant Guddu tells us this is a different Pappu from 1991 when he first entered Lok Sabha on the back of an allpervasive gunculture in Bihar Quoting the exact 12 years 4 months 18 days in jail that Pappu spent in jail released in 2013 over the broad daylight murder of communist leader Ajit Sarkar in Purnea in 1998 Guddu says the new Pappus loyal army is entirely bereft of weapons He doesnt allow and of course doesnt carry eitherMore like a mature kid cajoling his upset parents I see Pappu hug an old man brought to him who is disgruntled because he didnt show up as chief guest for the village cricket tournament earlier in the year But chacha how easily you forgot the R50000 that I gave you for a funeral last year Old man smilesIn that 50second stretch I get with no one around his bike I ask Pappu what he makes of his Rohin Hood image Evoking Voltaire he speaks of there being a creation and therefore a creator and that we ought to be one with him Recalling Abraham Lincoln he bemoans how divisive politics and turning issues simply into events has basically destroyed democracy that should simply be of by and for the peopleClimbing a steep mound on his bike with a crowd welcoming him at a thoroughfare early evening that seems like dead of the night Pappu asks Have you seen anything like this before Seriously noAlso ReadElections 2019 All is well saffron alliance assures its workersCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates