Former Madhepura MP and Jan Adhikar Party president Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav has triggered a controversy after raiding a place where over two dozen ambulances purchased from the funds provided by Saran Lok Sabha MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy were parked .
The ambulances had Rudy’s name and were bought using funds from the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).
Accompanied with his supporters, Yadav visited the place on Friday where the ambulances were standing and after a tiff with the security men went inside and removed the tarpaulin cover from the stationary ambulances.
The former MP came down heavily on Rudy for not utilising the ambulances when Covid-19 patients are dying for want of emergency services.
“People are paying as much as Rs 12,000 to ferry Covid patients to hospitals even though the hospital may be just 1km away. There is an acute shortage of ambulances and the Saran MP has kept about 100 ambulances. He has distributed some ambulances among his own men. There should be a probe into the matter. The MPLAD fund is public money,” said the Jan Adhikar Party chief.
Following the incident, a supporter of Rudy complained to the police against Pappu for trespassing and vandalising the ambulances.
An FIR was registered against Pappu with the Amnour police station on Saturday, superintendent of police Santosh Kumar said.
The incident triggered a war of words between Rudy and Pappu.
Rudy, former Union minister and sitting Lok Sabha MP from Saran, said the ambulances were standing because of the non-availability of drivers to ply them due to prevalence of Covid. He attacked Pappu for playing politics over the issue and threw a challenge to arrange drivers for use of the vehicles.
Pappu retorted sharply and at a news conference in Patna paraded some drivers carrying their driving licence who are prepared to run those stationed ambulances.
He appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to prevent such activities and utilise services of these drivers who are ready to work.
Pappu, a multiple MP from Madhepura, who carries a Robin Hood image, has been seen helping Covid patients get oxygen cylinders and visiting hospitals to help the needy.
Recently, a video had been shared widely showing him stopping a truck in which bouncers were transporting medical oxygen cylinders to a private hospital in Patna.
Pappu had lost the Lok Sabha election from Madhepura in 2019 to JDU leader Dinesh Chandra Yadav.
Once a close confidant of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Pappu fell out with him before the 2015 Assembly elections in Bihar and formed his own party.
His wife Ranjeet Ranjan is a former Congress MP from Supual in Bihar. She also lost the parliamentary polls in 2019.
Considered a political bastion of Lalu, Rudy won the Saran Lok Sabha seat in 2014 as well as in 2019. He served as the Union minister of state (independent charge) of skill development in Narendra Modi’s previous ministry.
