'No ifs, no buts, Kanhaiya Kumar will contest from Begusarai'

'The Congress agreed to it, but the RJD has some problem with Kanhaiya.'

'Some people are working to stop him from contesting polls and creating hurdles for him to enter Parliament.'

M I Khan reports from Patna.

Come what may, the Communist Party of India is determined to field former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar from Begusarai parliamentary seat in Bihar to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

“There are no ifs and buts as far as Kanhaiya contesting from Begusarai is concerned. He is the party candidate and we will not make any compromise at all, come what may,” Bihar CPI secretary Satyanarayan Singh said.

“Har haalat mein Kanhaiya Begusarai se hi chunao ladega (Kanhaiya will contest from Begusarai under any circumstance),” Singh told Rediff.com in Patna.

Singh said while the Congress was ready to accept Kanhaiya as a candidate of the opposition’s Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan, the Rashtriya Janata Dal had some objections to it.

“Congress president Rahul Gandhi has favoured Kanhaiya as the candidate of the Grand Alliance and we had talked to the Congress about it. They agreed to it, but the RJD has some problem with Kanhaiya,” Singh said.

He said like the Congress, the RJD should also support Kanhaiya as he is a vocal voice against the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

There is a consensus, Singh said, at the national level from intellectuals to progressive people that Kanhaiya should reach Parliament to challenge and counter the BJP and Modi inside the Lok Sabha.

“Some people are working to stop Kanhaiya from contesting polls and creating hurdles for him to enter Parliament,” Singh alleged.

Another CPI leader said Kanhaiya has been visiting villages and semi-urban pockets in Begusarai since December to canvass support among the people.

“Kanhaiya has emerged as a symbol of a democratic fight across the country. He is getting full support during his village level meetings in Begusarai since early January,” he said.

However, sources in RJD circle said the party was reluctant to support Kanhaiya on the ground that in last the Lok Sabha polls RJD candidate Tanveer Hasan got nearly 3.5 lakh votes in Begusarai.

Though he was defeated by the BJP's Bhola Singh, Hasan managed to prove his popularity and so was keen to contest this time as well.

Singh said the CPI along with other Left parties, including the CPI-ML and the CPI-M, will decide soon on whether to contest alone or go with the Grand Alliance.

In Bihar, the Grand Alliance comprises the RJD, the Congress, Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha and Vikassheel Insaan Party of Mukesh Sahni.

He said there was a need for a left and secular alliance in Bihar to defeat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.

”So far, our talks over seat-sharing are not fruitful. We have not met RJD chief Lalu Prasad. The matter is pending,” Singh added.

Singh was the only Left leader who shared the stage with Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his February 3 rally in Patna and even addressed it.

Unlike the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, when the Left parties were divided, with each contesting on its own, this time they have announced their decision to contest polls together.

The Left leaders said they were keen to be part of the Grand Alliance, but the response from the RJD and the Congress for seat-sharing was not positive so far.

However, the Grand Alliance is yet to finalise seat-sharing and the delay was leading to growing restlessness among the allies.

The CPI-ML said the Left parties will contest unitedly if the Grand Alliance will not give them "respectful seats”.

“Left parties are a strong political force on the ground. We have cadres, supporters and sympathisers as Left parties are working with the people and fighting for their rights on the ground,” CPI-ML leader Kunal said.

Left party leaders charged that RJD leaders were behaving like big brother while the Congress leaders were more interested in their own politics.

According to Grand Alliance leaders, both the RJD and the Congress want to keep the Left parties in the Grand Alliance in view of their pockets of influence in over a dozen districts of the state but are not willing to give them more than three or four seats.

Sensing this, the CPI-ML, which is considered a strong political force with three legislators in the state assembly and a huge support base across several districts, particularly in the rural areas, has made it clear that the Left must not be neglected.

In the 2014 general elections, the RJD won only four seats and the Congress two.

The Nationalist Congress Party won one seat.

The Janata Dal-United, which contested separately, also won only two seats.

However, the BJP-led NDA won 31 seats, with the BJP's tally being 22.