RJD and CPI move past Kanhaiya Kumar issue, plan to fight Bihar assembly polls together

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Kanhaiya Kumar was a deal-breaker for CPI-RJD alliance. But now RJD is attempting to ‘prevent the split of secular votes’ with an alliance with CPI.

File image of Communist Party of India leader Kanhaiya Kumar | Photo: Twitter | @KanhaiyaKumar

Patna: The RJD, which contributed to the defeat of former JNU student union president and CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar from Begusarai Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 polls by refusing to withdraw its own candidate, now seems ready to forge an alliance with the party for the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.

Kumar will likely be the star campaigner for the Left, but it’s still not clear if he will campaign for RJD candidates. 

“Kanhaiya Kumar is a member of the national executive of the CPI, so his name as a star campaigner will come from the central leadership. If the RJD does have an alliance with us and wants Kanhaiya to campaign for them, they can make a request and the party will consider,” CPI state secretary Ram Naresh Pandey told ThePrint.

When ThePrint called Kumar, his close associate Saroj Kumar picked up.

“Kanhaiya ji has not spoken to the media for the last four months. But I am 110 per cent sure that he will not be contesting the polls in Bihar,” he said.

2019 RJD-CPI conflict

During the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the CPI had asked the RJD to support Kumar and not field a candidate from the Begusarai seat. 

But the RJD refused to back Kumar as party leaders indicated that Lalu Prasad Yadav feared that Kumar with his fiery public oratory might pose a threat to his son Tejashwi Yadav. 

Although the Congress supported Kumar, the RJD refused to yield, saying that it had a strong candidate in Begusarai, who had come second in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The RJD, however, conceded the Ara Parliamentary seat to the CPI-ML.

Despite appeals by many, who participated in the star-studded campaign for Kumar — actress Swara Bhaskar, poet Javed Akhtar, leaders of Left parties, JNU students and former students — the RJD refused to concede the Begusarai seat.

Kumar had lost from the seat by a record margin of over 4.21 lakh votes to BJP’s Giriraj Singh. 

“In mathematical terms, Singh would have won by over 2 lakh votes even when you put the votes of Kumar and RJD’s Tanveer Hassan together. But we would have been able to put up a better fight had RJD supported Kanhaiya,” said a senior CPI leader, who didn’t want to be named. 

RJD’s change of heart

Since the Lok Sabha polls, the RJD seems to have had a change of heart and the initial round of talks between leaders of both parties about forming an alliance were held Wednesday. 

“The RJD is making an attempt to prevent the split of secular votes,” said state party chief Jagdanand Singh. 

With another ally, Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM, out of the Grand Alliance and likely to join the JD(U), the RJD finds itself in a position to negotiate with both the CPI and CPM.

Although the political influence of CPI has waned substantially in Bihar, the party still has dedicated cadres in several pockets.

In Begusarai, the number of CPI cadres is over 80,000. There are other pockets like Nawada, Madhubani, East Champaran, Buxar and Nalanda where CPI has cadres. 

The RJD has a social base but is not known to be a party of cadres. 

“With RJD’s social base and CPI’s cadres, the joining of the two parties will benefit both,” said an RJD leader.

Kumar a liability? 

Kumar has not been seen publicly since the last four months. He posted from his Twitter account last on 21 July.

The last time he visited his native state was in February in connection with the Jana Gana Mana Yatra against the Citizenship Amendment Act. 

In February, the Delhi government gave sanction to prosecute him in the sedition case pertaining to the alleged anti-national slogans raised on JNU campus in 2016 when he was the student union president. 

“After the nod by the Delhi government, there has been a lurking fear that the police may arrest him and he has been advised to lie low,” said a second CPI leader. 

In view of the fear of arrest, there is a section of CPI leaders who fear that Kumar may not be able to campaign for the Bihar polls. 

RJD, meanwhile, seems to be happy to do business with the CPI without Kumar.

“CPI leaders privately admit that Kumar’s ‘tukde-tukde’ gang image won’t help the party and many also resent the fact that several CPI leaders were sidelined and replaced by JNU-affiliated people during campaigning in Begusarai,” said a second RJD leader.