E-Paper
Kanhaiya Kumar files nomination papers from Begusarai, comrades in tow
The highway, from Bihat to Begusarai, witnessed a huge vehicular traffic congestion due to a large number of people joining Kanhaiya’s motorcade on SUVs and motorcycle. The unseasonal rain also added to the woes of the commuters.
CPI candidate and former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar filed his nomination papers from Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday, the last day to file nominations for the fourth phase polls. Polling in Begusarai would be held on May 6.
Earlier in the morning, Kanhaiya started the day from his native place Bihat, situated beside NH-31, by seeking the blessings of his mother Meena Devi, an anganwadi worker. Kanhaiya's mother applied tilak on his forehead to bless him. The candidate tweeted his picture with his mother and Fatima Nafis, mother of Najeeb Ahmed, who went missing from JNU in 2016.
Kanhaiya was flanked by senior CPl leaders, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, local party leaders and his supporters, who joined the long motorcade.
The highway, from Bihat to Begusarai, witnessed a huge vehicular traffic congestion due to a large number of people joining Kanhaiya’s motorcade on SUVs and motorcycle. The unseasonal rain also added to the woes of the commuters.
One of Kanhaiya’s close aides said Bollywood actor Swara Bhasker, former JNUSU office-bearer Shehla Rashid, Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur and other students of JNU also joined him on the roadshow. Kaur had made headlines and got plenty of criticism for posting a photo of herself holding a placard that said: “Pakistan did not kill my dad; war killed him.”
After filing the nomination papers, Kanhaiya told the media that his fight was with “the forces that are hell bent on snatching the rights of the downtrodden and destroying the Constitution of the country”.
Later in the day, after filing the nomination, Kanhaiya addressed a public meeting at the Collegiate High School grounds. Senior party leaders, besides Swara Bhasker, also addressed the gathering.
Swara told the audience that she had come to her nani’s (grandmother’s) house as her mother was from Patna. Requesting people to vote for Kanhaiya, she said Begusarai was the land of revolutionaries, including national poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, so another person fighting for the rights of the poor should be sent to Parliament.
With Kanhaiya filing his nomination, Begusarai is headed for a triangular fight, with RJD’s Tanveer Hassan and BJP’s Giriraj Singh, being the other two major candidates.
