Rahul Gandhi has spoken to Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav about the Begusarai seat, but the CPI is unwilling to give up the seat.
Will Kanhaiya Kumar, former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president, who is now a vocal Congress leader, contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Begusarai in Bihar?
Kanhaiya, then a Communist Party of India youth leader, contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Begusarai, but was defeated by the Bharatiya Janata Party's Giriraj Singh by 422,217 votes.
Begusarai is not considered a Congress seat and it appears difficult for the party to get the seat during constituency negotiations for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Congress sources in Patna reveal that former party president Rahul Gandhi is trying to get the Begusarai seat to ensure that Kanhaiya Kumar contests from the constituency.
Rahul Gandhi has spoken to Janata Dal-United President Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Yadav about the Begusarai seat, but the CPI -- which is also a constituent of the Opposition India bloc -- is unwilling to give up the seat.
The CPI wants its candidates to contest from four constituencies in Bihar, Begusarai among them.
CPI leaders assert that it has a sizeable presence in Begusarai and are also not comfortable with Kanhaiya who dumped the party and joined the Congress three years ago.
CPI General Secretary Doraiswami Raja met Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav and his son Tejashwi Yadav this week and reportedly mentioned Begusarai along with three other constituencies.
The JD-U and RJD will contest 16 or 17 seats each, with the remaining seats to be divided between the Congress and Left parties.
The Congress is looking at Kishanganj, which its candidates won in 2009, 2014 and 2019, Aurangabad, Katihar and Sasaram.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Begusarai, Union Minister Giriraj Singh polled 692,193 votes, Kanhaiya 269,976 votes and the RJD's candidate Tanweer Hasan secured 198,233 votes.
The BJP and JD-U contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election together and won 39 of Bihar's 40 seats, with the Congress winning the Kishanganj seat. The RJD didn't win a single seat.
RJD sources say Kanhaiya does not enjoy a good equation with Tejashwi Yadav who has never shared a public platform with the Congress firebrand.
Giriraj Singh, a champion of Hindutva politics known for his vocal statements that triggered controversies in the past, is the BJP front-runner to contest the Begusarai seat for his party.
Both Giriraj Singh and Kanhaiya belong to the powerful landed Bhumihar caste, but their family backgrounds are different.
The CPI, impressed by his oratory in Hindi, projected Kanhaiya as the voice of the marginalised and poorest of the poor during the 2019 election.
The Congress is now using Kanhaiya's quick thinking, sense of repartee and speaking skill in the Hindi heartland and in television debates.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
