Imagine that you are fasting for the entire day because you wanted to taste every dish available at a party on the same evening. But, when you reach the party, it gets too late. What you see is people washing dishes. My sympathies are with you but still, it is a ludicrous situation.
Wondering why I am telling you this? No, I am not going to talk about any food carnival. The above situation is just a reference to the current position of a political leader who once commanded little respect within the left establishment. But now, he is nowhere in politics.
I am talking about a former JNU student who rose to fame following the infamous JNU episode. I am talking about Kanhaiya Kumar – the man who had left the president post of the JNU students’ union to join mainstream politics. But now, he has become a mere punching bag for the political parties.
Ink thrown at Kanhaiya Kumar
Once a self-proclaimed activist and now a failed Congress politician, Kanhaiya Kumar’s journey is disheartening. Kanhaiya, to harbour his political dreams, has turned opportunistic. He is now licking the boot of the Congress party. And thus, he had reached Lucknow for door-to-door campaigning to seek votes for the Congress candidates in the poll-bound state.
When Kanhaiya was at the party’s office in Lucknow on Tuesday, an unidentified person allegedly threw ink at him. The party workers had caught the ink-thrower but were reluctant to reveal any details about him.
Kanhaiya failed as a politician
Kanhaiya Kumar was once being touted as one of the bigwigs of opposition parties. He has been the main accused in the Delhi sedition row, where ‘Bharat Tere Tukde Honge’ slogans were raised in the JNU campus at an event organized by the Students’ Union headed by Kanhaiya Kumar.
Read more: After failing CPI(M), Kanhaiya could script Congress’ last story
After receiving much media attention, the Communist Party of India offered him a Lok Sabha ticket from his home district Begusarai. However, he was delivered a crushing defeat by BJP’s Giriraj Singh who got more than 4,22,000 votes.
The loss was so humiliating that Giriraj emerged victorious in Bihat ward (Ward where Kumar has his house) and Safapur (the biggest booth of CPI). In the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, Kanhaiya Kumar was not given a ticket to contest from any party.
Read more: So long, comrade! With no ticket for Bihar polls, Kanhaiya Kumar is back to being jobless again
Kumar had quit the CPI and joined the Congress party earlier in September 2021, abandoning his own ideology of Communism. The Congress party was in search of someone who could make the party strong on the ground. Now, Kanhaiya has been burdened with improving Congress’ prospects in Bihar, which is very next to impossible.
Kanhaiya’s ambitions
Kanhaiya Kumar jumping ship to the Congress reflects his own ambitions in politics. CPI leaders had claimed that Kanhaiya’s decision to join the Congress vindicated his “hastiness” to become a parliamentarian.
There are speculations of Kanhaiya being sent to Rajya Sabha to strengthen the Congress party’s position. Congress has been criticised for not countering the BJP with ‘sound’ arguments inside and outside the parliament.
Kanhaiya Kumar was the blue-eyed boy of the opposition parties, launched to the politics amidst much fanfare. The critics of the Modi government were convinced that Kanhaiya will single-handedly ensure the former’s downfall. But guess what, he is still struggling to mark a place for himself.