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Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Kanhaiya strikes gold, other JNUSU presidents not so lucky
Whether Kanhaiya will win or lose is to be seen, but it appears certain now that Begusarai, the Leningrad of Bihar, will be a launchpad for the former JNUSU president, taking him to the higher echelon of politics.
Former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar struck gold when the Communist Party of India (CPI) gave him a ticket from the Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday — not even one former president or office-bearer of JNUSU has been lucky enough to start their political career from Bihar by contesting for the Lower House of Parliament.
Whether Kanhaiya will win or lose is to be seen, but it appears certain now that Begusarai, the Leningrad of Bihar, will be a launchpad for the former JNUSU president, taking him to the higher echelon of politics.
While Kanhaiya is in the fray for a Parliament seat, the political turf of Bihar at present has three former JNUSU presidents, including Congress MLA from Kadwa, Shakeel Ahmed Khan, and Janata Dal (United) MLC, Tanvir Akhtar.
Other JNUSU office-bearers have also made their name later in Bihar politics.
Former JNUSU president Chandrashekhar, who was credited with building the All-India Students' Association (AISA), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), on the university campus, had tried to return to his roots in Siwan, but was unfortunately killed in 1997.
Former Banka MP, Digvijay Singh, a native of Gidhaur in Jamui district, who died in 2010, was the general secretary of JNUSU in 1982 from the Students for Democratic Socialism (DYS) outfit.
In a media briefing after getting the CPI ticket, Kanhaiya said that he had returned to Begusarai to serve the people of the place where he was born and brought up. He is credited with reviving the All-India Student Federation (AISF), the student wing of CPI, at the university in Delhi.
After hitting the political turf of the country, Kanhaiya did not switch parties. However, the two former JNUSU presidents, Khan and Akhtar, changed their parties after they built their career in Bihar politics.
A resident of Katihar, Khan became JNUSU president in 1992-93 from the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). In 1991, he was the vice-president of JNUSU from SFI. However, after he started building his political career outside the university, he joined the Congress. “I cannot deny that my move was opportunistic. In 1998, when in the country there was a BJP government, the presence of the Left parties in Bihar was diminishing. In the national framework, the presence of the Congress had increased, so I decided to move to the grand old party to build my political career,” he said.
Khan, who won from Kadwa (Katihar) in the 2015 assembly polls, did not hesitate to say that he had ambitions of contesting the Lok Sabha elections. “But the 2019 polls is not the right time. We are now concentrating on our efforts to dislodge the BJP government. [Later] whenever the party gives me an opportunity, I will contest the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.
Akhtar, a resident of Sherghati in Gaya, became JNUSU president in 1991-92 on a ticket from the National Students’ Union of India, the student wing of the Congress. After leaving the campus, he remained with the Congress and was made the party’s member of legislative council. However, now he is a JD(U) MLC.
While he was with the Congress in Bihar, Akhtar became vice-president of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee and president of Bihar Youth Congress. “My switching parties is not opportunistic. I felt I was insulted by RJD chief Lalu Prasad when the Congress was also part of the Grand Alliance in 2015. However, Nitishji recognised my worth, so I switched to JD(U),” he said, adding he would serve the party in Bihar itself.
Then and now
Shakeel Ahmed Khan: Was with SFI at JNU, now is the Congress MLA from Kadwa
Tanveer Akhtar: Was with the NSUI at JNU, now is a JD(U) MLC
Kanhaiya Kumar: Was with the AISF at JNU, now is the CPI Lok Sabha candidate from Begusarai
