Median eigenvalues of bipartite graphs

For a graph $G$ of order $n$ and with eigenvalues $\lambda_1\geqslant\cdots\geqslant\lambda_n$, the HL-index $R(G)$ is defined as $R(G) ={\max}\left\{|\lambda_{\lfloor(n+1)/2\rfloor}|, |\lambda_{\lceil(n+1)/2\rceil}|\right\}.$ We show that for every connected bipartite graph $G$ with maximum degree $\Delta\geqslant3$, $R(G)\leqslant\sqrt{\Delta-2}$ unless $G$ is the the incidence graph of a projective plane of order $\Delta-1$. We also present an approach through graph covering to construct infinite families of bipartite graphs with large HL-index.