Released on bail in February this year, Pappu dumped the Rashtriya Janata Dal, on whose ticket he had won as MP in 2004, and joined the Congress. But in April, the Patna High Court denied Pappu the right to fight the Lok Sabha election, citing his conviction for Sarkar’s murder. “[The] offence of murder is heinous. But when one hires killers, plans it and gets the plans executed as meticulously as in the present case, the very quality of the man and his deeds are reflected,” the judges wrote. “The man could be said to be a habitual killer and criminal.”

Sonia Gandhi’s party quickly gave his wife, Ranjita, a ticket. And although Pappu’s mother is an independent candidate from Purnea, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit told a Congress rally there, “Delhi has sent me to tell you that Pappu Yadav’s mother is our candidate.”

Neither his conviction nor the fact that his bail has been challenged in the Supreme Court has proved sufficient to rein Pappu in. The Purnea administration filed six cases against him as he held rallies beyond electioneering time, violating the code of conduct. He also grabbed headlines for landing his helicopter near his house without permission. On April 27, the Purnea police finally slapped Bihar’s Crime Control Act on him, severely restricting his movement and ordering him to report twice a day at a local police station. Characteristically, Pappu thumbed his nose at the police, and nonchalantly held court at his village estate.

Pappu’s legend grew with the number of times he escaped close brushes with death
Still, Pappu Yadav, arguably Bihar’s most notorious ganglord ever, stands at a crossroad today. “It is true the people of Purnea were fearful after he was given bail,” says superintendent of police, Nayyar Hasnain Khan, who seized Yadav’s helicopter and grounded it for a week. “But I think people have realised nobody is above the law.” Meanwhile, CPI-M leader Singh’s appeal against Pappu’s bail has been accepted by the Supreme Court and will probably be heard after the vacation in July. If the recent past is any indication, Pappu should be back in jail soon.

Since his arrest in 1998, and before he was convicted for Sarkar’s murder, Pappu had moved the Patna High Court a record nine times for bail. It was denied six times. The three times he was granted bail, the Supreme Court cancelled it promptly and sent him back to jail. In fact, the apex court finally shifted him out of Patna jail when it was found he was continuing his illegal activities from there. “He has no respect for the rule of law,” the Supreme Court judge said and shifted him to Delhi’s Tihar jail.

But as long as political parties are willing to export him out of jail to bail them out for nuclear trust votes and other sundry crises, the raj of Pappu Yadav — and others like him across the country — will not fade.