Kanhaiya Kumar, former president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union, will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Begusarai in Bihar from a CPI ticket, the party said on Monday, 30 October. The 30-year-old student leader was born in Begusarai district.
The BJP won the Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency in the last general election, and Kanhaiya’s candidature is bound to turn up the heat in Bihar’s political battleground.
CPI national council secretary KR Naraina told NDTV India that Kanhaiya had the option to fight elections from Kerala, but will run from his home state as per the demand of the party’s Bihar unit.
RJD President Lalu Prasad is likely to put his weight behind Kanhaiya, providing some shape to his 2019 ‘Mahagathbandhan’ plan.
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A few Left parties have claimed that Kanhaiya has already started preparing for the mega polls and toured several areas in the region, the report added. The CPI might mull fielding Kanhaiya from a different seat if they contest elections in a coalition with the RJD and the Congress.
The Quint has reached out to Kanhaiya for a comment and this story will be updated with his response.
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