Bihar result 2025: Kanhaiya Kumar, Cong star campaigner, stares at questions

Kanhaiya campaigned statewide, opting not to contest a seat in the Bihar assembly election 2025

Published on: Nov 14, 2025, 10:50:48 IST

By Majid Alam

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Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar was among the younger faces of the party on the list of 40 star campaigners for the Bihar assembly election 2025. He did not contest a seat, but canvassed widely. With the party now set to do worse than it did in 2020, the youth leader would also face a crisis.

Though Kanhaiya has been campaigning for the Congress in Bihar, he enjoys considerable influence in the Begusarai area, which was once referred to as the ‘Leningrad’ in Bihar. (ANI file photo)

On why he was not contesting the state polls, Kanhaiya had said that he has already contested twice in the Lok Sabha elections (lost both times) and, therefore, he would like local leaders to contest the assembly polls.

Kanhaiya, a former student leader, began his political career with the CPI, contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from his hometown, Begusarai in Bihar, but lost against BJP leader Giriraj Singh.

Kanhaiya later switched to Congress and fought the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections from Northeast Delhi.

Kanhaiya entered student politics while doing his research at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He served as the President of the JNU Students’ Union and got national attention following student protests in 2016.

Though Kanhaiya has been campaigning for the Congress in Bihar, he enjoys considerable influence in the Begusarai area, which was once referred to as the ‘Leningrad’ in Bihar. In the Begusarai seat, sitting MLA Kundan Singh is contesting against former Congress MLA Amita Bhushan.

The seat remains prominent for the parties as the Begusarai seat remains dominated by the MLA from the ruling party.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Majid Alam
Majid Alam is a Chief Content Producer working at Hindustan Times, based in New Delhi. He currently heads shifts at online desk and manages homepage apart from writing, editing and curating articles. With over six years of experience in journalism, Majid has navigated national, politics and international news. His work primarily focuses on the politics of the Hindi heartland, government policies, and South Asia. He also writes on US and Europe’s policies vis-à-vis India. Before joining Hindustan Times, Majid worked at ABP LIVE as the Chief Copy Editor and at News18, where he managed the World and Explainers sections. His articles have featured in Dialogue Earth, The Quint, BMJ, The Diplomat, and Outlook India. Majid has a keen interest in the use of data for storytelling. Majid holds a Masters in Convergent Journalism from Jamia Millia Islamia. He was awarded the Erasmus+ scholarship to study International Affairs at Sciences Po, Paris in 2020. He is also part of the OCEANS Network, an alumni network of Erasmus+ exchange scholars. He is currently serving as the National Representative (India) at the OCEANS Network. Apart from journalism, Majid has a flair for academic writing and loves to teach. He has published a book chapter: 'Bombay Cinema and Postmodernism' in the book: 'Handbook of Research on Social and Cultural Dynamics in Indian Cinema.' He was also part of the OCEANS Network delegation to Hanoi National University of Education in Vietnam in 2025. He has also given guest lecture in digital journalism at AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia.Read More

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