Though one attribute that every politician definitely mention in their CV is doing social service, yet the one who actually rise to the occasion in the hour of crisis emerge as a leader.
Rajesh Rajesh alias Pappu Yadav has emerged as a face of rescue and relief in the ongoing unprecedented water logging in Patna. His humanitarian intervention to the people of water logged localities of the capital has earned him the praise from all quarters. As one after another videos of the relief operations went viral his popularity surge to new heights. Along with the appreciation, pour in the donations to support the cause.
Ironically, the Madhepura and Purnea based JAP leader has to take the initiative of relief operation in Patna while the state capital being home of top politicians, mostly belonging to the BJP. Moreover, the other political parties which later took up the relief works, with all their resources and manpower could not match to scale of relief that Pappu has provided on his own.
As Pappu comes from Kosi belt, the most flood affected region of Bihar, he could visualise the difficulty of people and immediately jumped into the relief operation. He would wade through chest deep filthy water to provide food, drinking water and even financial support to the people stuck in their houses and slums. He has also covered the narrow streets and far flung areas where government’s relief team seldom reached.
On the other hand, in an embarrassment to Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, on the seventh day of water logging Pappu reached to his house in Rajendra Nagar to provide relief materials to the driver and other employee who were still stuck there. It needs to be mention that Sushil Modi was rescued on 30th September i.e. the third day of the crisis. Curiously, he never went back to his home.
Indeed, in the age of sophisticated perception management hardly any elected representatives or politicians care about the people grievances. They know that with the help of traditional and digital media opinion could be molded or tamed in their favor.
Although critics usually denounced him as non serious politician, Pappu's outfit Jan Adhikar Party has been quite active on ground for few years. The JAP leader enjoys sizeable following among youths thanks to his Robin Hood image. Be it the demonstration against Muzaffarpur shelter home episode or the protest against the children’s deaths due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in the same district or other issues in the state, JAP aggressive party workers always ensured his party’s presence felt.
For obvious reasons Pappu's team did not let out the opportunity to capture and publicise the details of his activism. For example, his phone call to a doctor in which he was requesting for resources to operate medical camps in affected areas was video recorded by his associates, which eventually become viral, Or the video of Pappu assisting in cooking or the updates of every move throughout his relief operation were circulated through various social media pages.
Nevertheless, he cannot be blamed for taking credit for delivering the essential services when the government machineries were caught napping.
Though Mahendra Yadav, convener of Koshi Navnirman Munch, in a telephonic conversation to this correspondent lauded Pappu's efforts in Patna yet, he has a refrain that the JAP leader did not show the similar enthusiasm during the Koshi flood of July this year. "Lakhs of people of Araria, Supaul (Pappu's wife Ranjeeth Ranjan is ex M.P. of the constituency) and neighboring districts were severely affected by the second major flood in the Koshi after its embankment yet, Pappu was not that prominent in the flood relief operations there", Mahendra Yadav said.
However, one observer said to Bihar Times, "Patnites has not seen the magnitude of crisis in four five decades that this water logging has created. If someone helps the way Pappu Yadav did in such a crucial situation, it is quite an emotional thing. Surely the people will not forget his work for years and you know how important role emotions play in decision making!
