Ranjeet Ranjan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ranjeet Ranjan

• Ranjeet Ranjan grew up in Jammu.

• Her ancestors were Kashmiri Pandits turned Sikhs.

• Ranjeet Ranjan belonged to Punjab, India, but after marriage, she started living in Bihar and became fluent in Bhojpuri. She loves eating Bihari cuisine, except the mota chawal (thick-grained rice).

• During her school days, she was a national-level tennis player. Her daughter, Prakriti, is a national-level basketball player, and her son is a national-level cricket player.

  

• When she was young, Ranjeet Ranjan used to play tennis at the Patna Tennis Club, and once, Pappu Yadav visited the place for a prize distribution ceremony. He saw Ranjeet Ranjan and fell in love with her. She once narrated her love story in a media conversation. She said,
  

  He pursued me for several months. He befriended my brother so that he could come to our house. But my father was against the match as people had warned us about him. Some even said he would abduct me.”

  She added,

  However, I discovered over time that he was not like what people said. He came from a good family.”

  Her father told Yadav that he must convert to Sikhism if he wanted to marry his daughter. Yadav agreed to this condition and said that he would leave Bihar for Ranjeet.

• One year after marriage, in 1995, Ranjeet Ranjan contested an assembly election but lost.

  

• After marriage, adjusting was not easy for her. When they went out for meals, her husband’s ten companions always went with them. However, soon she stopped them and also warned other people not to use her husband’s name to collect money.

• According to her, she did not understand the caste system before marriage. She shared her husband’s problematic life in a media interview. She said,
  

  I also understood that there was a backward-forward tussle at the core of my husband’s problematic life. Before I got married, I did not understand caste.”

• When her husband was in jail for 12 years, their son was only three years old. Their daughter was seven months old when his bail was denied.

• During the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, Ranjeet Ranjan entered politics. She campaigned for her jailed husband, Pappu Yadav, in Purnia with her young son.

  

• She spoke at more than 20 public meetings daily to support her husband. Her efforts helped her husband win the election.

• In 2004, during the 14th Lok Sabha elections, she contested from the Saharsa constituency of North Bihar. She won and became one of the youngest MPs from the Saharsa constituency.

• Reportedly, during these elections, the Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi did not campaign for her in the Supaul constituency; however, she received 3,32,927 votes on her own.

• Ranjeet Ranjan won the elections against her opponents, Dileshwar Kamait from JD(U) and Kameshwar Chaupal from BJP.

  

• In 2009, she, along with her husband, Pappu Yadav, joined the Indian National Congress. She then shifted to the Supaul constituency in Bihar.

• In the 2009 election, Ranjeet Ranjan lost by more than 1.5 lakh votes to her opponent, Vishwa Mohan Kumar of Janata Dal (United).

• In 2014, she won the Supaul seat on the ticket of the Indian National Congress. She defeated her opponent Dileshwar Kamait of JD(U) by 60,000 votes and became a member of the Lok Sabha.

• Her husband, Pappu Yadav, also known as Rajesh Ranjan, has won the Lok Sabha elections four times. He won the 16th Lok Sabha election from the Madhepura seat in Bihar. He contested as an independent candidate under the Rashtriya Janata Dal party.

• Indian National Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi often calls her ‘fire brigade.’ Ranjeet Ranjan once shared in a media conversation that she regularly attended parliamentary sessions, as it helped her to understand various issues. She said,
  

  I like to be in Parliament and listen to the speeches as it helps me understand different issues.”

• Late politician Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are her favourite speakers in Parliament.

• According to her, the patients who come to Delhi from Bihar for treatment often stay at her official house. She, along with her husband, regularly visits the place.

  

• Ranjeet Ranjan likes riding her Harley-Davidson. She is associated with a Harley Ladies’ Club. This club organises motorcycle rides from Delhi on weekends.

  

• Her husband, Pappu Yadav, once said in a media interview that he calls his wife ‘Jhansi Ki Rani.’ He said that he received a lot of strength from her. He also admitted that she changed his life. She changed him both as a person and as a politician. He said,
  

  I was headstrong and impatient. She has taught me to wait for the right time to act. She says we will emerge triumphant in our fight. But we have to be patient.”

• Pappu Yadav was once known as a feared don who ruled eastern Bihar. Over time, he built a better reputation for himself. He credited his wife, Ranjeet Ranjan, for completely changing his life. She helped him quit bad habits and unhealthy people. He said,
  

  She made me give up the company of people who were feeding on me like parasites. She made me give up the bad habit of chewing paan and made me health conscious. She has made me value family life.”

  

• He said that after marriage, during his period in jail, Pappu Yadav pursued a master’s in sociology. After that, he released his autobiography.

• When Pappu Yadav was in jail, Ranjeet Ranjan and her sisters used their own money to continue his charity work in his area.