Until not so long ago, Kanhaiya Kumar was the blue eyed boy of the opposition parties, launched amidst much fanfare, the critics of the Modi government were convinced that Kanhaiya will almost single-handedly ensure the downfall of the Modi government. On the eve of the Lok Sabha elections, Kumar joined the Communist Party of India and contested the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat as the CPI candidate against BJP’s Giriraj Singh. The latter won handsomely thereby delivering a crushing defeat to Kumar, whose political career since then has been on a downturn. In what can be seen as a premature end to Kumar’s political career, the CPI which is an alliance with the RJD led Mahagathbandhan recently announced its candidates for the upcoming Bihar elections, but found no space for their erstwhile poster boy, Kanhaiya Kumar.
Former JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar who rose to fame following the infamous JNU episode, will not be contesting the Bihar elections at least on a Communist Party ticket. The left parties – CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M) are in an alliance with the Mahagathbandhan and have managed to eke out 29 seats as alliance partners. Kanhaiya’s CPI is contesting on six seats with the names of the candidates declared.
After a humiliating loss the Lok Sabha elections from Begusarai, where Kanhaiya Kumar lost to Giriraj Singh by a margin of over 4 lakh votes, Kumar has gradually drifted out of the limelight with questions being raised about Kanhaiya’s political acumen and future.
It will not be far-fetched to say that with the refusal of the CPI to award a ticket to Kanhaiya, his political career now hangs in balance as it slowly hurtles to a premature end. Perhaps, Kumar was bogged down by the humiliating defeat and his alleged ‘anti-national’ image which refuses to go away, thanks to his antics.
In the 2019 general election, Kanhaiya Kumar was the reason behind the break of deal between RJD and CPI as Lalu Yadav saw Kumar as a potential rival to his sons. RJD refused to not contest the Begusarai seat from where Kumar was contesting but gave a free pass to CPI-ML candidate from Ara constituency. It is believed that Lalu Yadav’s RJD agreed to ally with the CPI only on the condition that Kanhaiya Kumar will not contest in the upcoming assembly election in Bihar.
“Kanhaiya ji has not spoken to the media for the last four months. But I am 110 percent sure that he will not be contesting the polls in Bihar,” said Kumar’s close aide Saroj Kumar earlier in August.
The Bihar elections will be a watershed moment for both the JD(U)-BJP alliance and the Mahagathbandhan, but it will also mark the end of Kanhaiya Kumar’s political career.