Patna: Parliamentarian Pappu Yadav has been given ‘Y’ category security by the Narendra Modi government at the centre ahead of the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. The move is being seen by observers as an indirect attempt to woo the politically significant Yadav voters who account for roughly 15 per cent of Bihar’s total population.
The action comes after Yadav, a former acolyte of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad, called on federal home minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday and sought adequate security apprehending threats to his life. Under this category, Yadav will be provided a security cover of 11 personnel.
“He [Yadav] has been given the ‘Y’ category security in view of his threat perceptions from political rivals, criminals and Maoists,” Yadav’s press in-charge Ranjan Sinha said today.
Yadav, who emerged victorious on RJD ticket from Madhepura Lok Sabha seat in the last parliamentary polls has now formed his own outfit, Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), after being expelled from his parent party for his alleged anti-party activities. He wields considerable clout among his fellow caste men and youths in certain pockets of eastern Bihar and this is the reason why the BJP is trying to lure him to its side although his party is not a part of the National Democratic Alliance.
His political clout in the areas can be gauged from the fact that he and his wife, Ranjita Ranjan, emerged victorious from two eastern Bihar seats despite a strong Modi wave during the Lok Sabha polls. Such was the impact of the Modi wave that the NDA made a virtual clean sweep in the elections, bagging 31 seats out of Bihar’s total 40 LS seats.
Moreover, both Yadav and the BJP have the lone objective of defeating the Lalu Prasad-Nitish Kumar alliance in the coming elections. The BJP hopes to make a dent in the Yadav vote bank of RJD by luring Yadav to its side. The Yadav community is already angry with Prasad for joining hands with his arch-rival Nitish Kumar and is said to looking for a shelter. It was under this background that Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his recent party rally in Bihar exhorted the Yadavs not to be swayed by the appeals of the RJD chief who, he alleged, was now more concerned about his family than the welfare of this community.
Barely a week ago, the Modi government at the centre had given Z-plus category security to former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi whose party, Hindustani Awam Morcha, is now part of the NDA. This is also said to be a part of the BJP strategy to reach out to the vast 23 per cent Dalit voters in the state to counter the grand secular alliance led by chief minister Nitish Kumar.
