Lok Sabha elections 2019: Kanhaiya a strong challenger in Begusarai

The Begusarai Lok Sabha seat will witness a triangular contest between Giriraj Singh, Tanweer Hasan and Kanhaiya Kumar

“Dekho, dekho kaun aya, Hinduon ka sher aya (Look who’s here, the lion of Hindus has arrived)” is what one will hear a hundred times within an hour during the roadshow of Giriraj Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate from Begusarai. 

The BJP is resorting to hardline Hindutva campaign in Begusarai to consolidate Hindu votes, moving beyond nationalism, to beat its rivals who are mostly either raking up development issues or communal harmony as its main plank.

The Begusarai seat, which goes to poll on April 29, will witness a triangular contest between Singh, Communist Party of India's Kanhaiya Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Tanweer Hasan.

Business Standard covered the roadshows of all the three contestants earlier this week.

While Giriraj mostly makes a stop during his roadshows at a temple, Kanhaiya is seen either clicking a selfie with youngsters waiting to have a glance of him or seeking blessings of the elderly speaking in the local dialect or exchanging telephone numbers. Giriraj's roadshows are more like a temple run whereas Kanhaiya is a crowd-puller who is able to mobilise his cadre more effectively.

“Anganwadi ka beta zindabad! (Long live anganwadi's son)” a woman said, while giving blessings to Kanhaiya by touching his forehead. Kanhaiya's mother was an anganwadi worker. Anganwadi is a type of rural child care centre in India.

RJD’s Tanweer Hasan, a veteran politician, who knows the nooks and corner of Begusarai constituency by heart can be seen interacting and connecting with people as soon as he meets them.

Begusarai, located in central Bihar, was once considered to be the Leningrad (another name of St Petersburg, the second-largest city in Russia) of the state due to the left parties’ stronghold there. 

The dominance of the Left was a result of freedom fighter Swami Sahajanand Saraswati's peasant movement during pre-independence days in Bihar. Saraswati, who was born as a Bhumihar Brahmin, mobilised the peasants against the zamindari system in and around Begusarai (a part of Munger back then) which was mainly occupied by Bhumihars or land owners.

At least three out of the seven assembly constituencies coming under the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat, at present, were a part of Balia seat until 2004. CPI won almost all the elections in Balia Lok Sabha till 1996. After that, the RJD, Janata Dal United and Lok Janata Party won bagged one term each until 2004, when Balia ceased to exist as a Lok Sabha seat and its assembly seats were distributed to other constituencies.

Kanhaiya Kumar campaigns in his car for Lok Sabha election 2019 in Begusarai | Photo: Somesh Jha

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP won Begusarai for the first time. The seat fell vacant after its MP Bhola Singh died in October. Singh had started his political career as an independent left candidate and had become an MLA from the CPI in 1972. He later joined the Congress, RJD and then the BJP and in the 2014 elections defeated RJD's Tanweer Hasan by around 60,000 votes.

In 2009, CPI was the runners up with a vote share of 23 per cent, trailing behind the JD(U) which won from here by a margin of 40,837 votes. The CPI, which stood third in the following election in 2014, had a vote share of around 18 per cent. Observers say at its peak, the CPI may have a vote bank of 200,000.

Now, with a “changed tactic”, Kanhaiya, born as a Bhumihar in Begusarai before he went to study at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), is giving a challenge to Singh and Hasan. In an interview to Business Standard, Kanhaiya said he feels that the left parties have seen a decline in the region electorally but not politically.

Kanhaiya is attempting to revive the left movement in the region and has been able to galvanise its cadre during his roadshows, public meetings and electoral reach-out in Begusarai. He is often seen in a car with an open sunroof, accompanied by three-four SUVs and around 100 bikes.

As the campaigning comes to an end, in the last few days, Kanhaiya has mainly visited the regions in Begusarai which are considered to be a left stronghold and the slogan often heard is: hathi-ghoda palki, jai Kanhaiya lal ki (a village lore).

Hasan, a local from Begusarai who has been an MLA for RJD for over a decade, is seen to be an accessible leader with a clean image across communities here. He takes out his roadshows travelling mostly in an SUV, without much cavalcade. A PhD holder in Economics focusing on rural financing, Hasan has a great influence on the RJD’s classic Yadav-Muslim combination voters (around 13 per cent of Begusarai's voters are Muslims and 7 per cent are Yadavs).

However, his Muslim vote bank is facing a threat from Kanhaiya who is gaining traction from the community. 

“Last time, Hasan was a losing candidate from here. This time we want to elect someone who can win and give a challenge to PM Modi,” 23-year-old Wasim, an on-looker to Kanhaiya's campaign, said.

“This is the opportunity to rise above caste and religion politics. If Kanhaiya wins, I will distribute 1.5 kg jalebi (sweet) in our village,” Khaizun Khatum, a resident of Barauni said. Kanhaiya has received the highest donation of Rs 2 million from businessman Nasim Hasan in Begusarai. Begusarai is witnessing a polarised contest. 

While BJP’s Giriraj presents himself as the “Kalyug ka Ram”, Kanhaiya portrays himself as the son of Begusarai -- “neta nahi, beta hai” (not a politician, but a son). On the other hand, Tanweer's supporters ask for votes for the sake of communal harmony in the region which has seen its share of riots in the recent past.

Both Giriraj and Tanweer are dismissive about Kanhaiya. While the former chose to ignore him during an interview with Business Standard, Tanweer made a strong statement that Kanhaiya has had a secret pact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defeat him.

In Begusarai, the Bhumihar community forms a major voting bloc constituting more than one-fifth of the total voters. Both Kanhaiya and Singh belong to this community which has been a strong voter base for the BJP. As per the data available with political parties, Mahadalit also form a major part of voters in Begusarai (around 18 per cent).

A vigorous campaign by Kanhaiya is helping him gain more traction day-by-day and he may likely get a pie of support from the Bhumihar community. His success would hinge on whether he is able to gain popularity among the upper-caste, his campaign managers say.

In Ramdiri village, dominated by Bhumihars, the opinions are as polarised as the political campaign in Begusarai. “Kanhaiya has made Begusarai famous internationally. He may not become the PM by winning from here but can ask relevant questions for our welfare in Parliament,” 50-year-old Kamal Dev Singh says. He adds villagers are mostly divided between CPI's Kanhaiya and BJP’s Giriraj but says the former is gaining momentum.

Kanhaiya's supporters in Begusarai seen wearing T-Shirts with famous slogans | Photo: Somesh Jha

“Our children who migrated outside Bihar call and tell us to vote for Kanhaiya,” says Singh's friend Balram, even as another villager says people should not vote for Kanhaiya as the ultimate aim “should be to elect Modi as the Prime Minister.”

In the same village, 22-year-old Natwar, a landlord farmer, said he would vote for Giriraj only because he wants Modi to become the prime minister again. 
 

“Yes, there was some farm distress but Modi is good for the nation and this election is to make him the PM,” he said.

BJP and Modi supporters in this region do not have much to say about Giriraj. He is often seen as an arrogant leader “from the outside” by them. Giriraj had recently publicly expressed displeasure over being displaced from his Nawada seat to fight from the Begusarai seat.

But Giriraj's cadre is ensuring it becomes a shadow contest between Modi and the opponents. “Modi ki parchayi hai, Giriraj humara bhai hai (Modi’s shadow is there, Giriraj is our brother),” a loudspeaker blares, as Giriraj’s convoy moves between villages in an open gypsy, accompanied by SUV cars with a couple of people.

“Modi has developed our area with a cylinder supply at home, girls are venturing out of their houses to study in schools and there is regular supply of electricity,” Amit Kumar, 26, from Roopnagar says.

CPI workers say that its cadre was divided in 2014 over the selection of Rajendra Singh as a candidate. “But this time, we have someone as strong as Commrade Chandrasekhar. He can take on Modi,” Mohd Ilyaz Khan, a CPI worker, said.

Chadrasekhar Singh, credited for building the CPI in Bihar, was the first elected MLA of the party in this region. He was known for working for the cause of backward, particularly Dalits, in Begusarai and belonged to Bihat - a village where Kanhaiya was born.

The Yadav and Kushwaha community will strongly back RJD's Tanweer Hasan, 53-year-old Arun Kumar Yadav felt. “Hasan goes to every small occasion, be it a marriage or a religious function or anything. He is accessible to people,” Yadav, a social worker from CPI stronghold region Bachhawara, said, who also went to RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav's rally here a few days back. Yadav refers to Giriraj as an outsider and says Kanhaiya has “brought disgrace” to Begusarai “by raising slogans against Afzal Guru's hanging”.

In Berhampur village, a group of young boys are waiting to welcome Kanhaiya at the village head (or mukhiya)’s house - a member of the left party - where his team of hundreds of supporters was supposed to make a stop for lunch. “Though we are welcoming him wholeheartedly as he is our guest but we support Giriraj Singh because of Modi,” 22-year-old student Rajiv Kumar Ishwar said.

“What does he want azaadi from? Does he want to divide the country?” he added, referring to the famous slogan of liberty often raised by Kanhaiya in his rallies.

Shivam Ishwar, a 23-year engineering student, raises some similar issues against Kanhaiya. “Why does he use the term azadi? This is the first time I am hearing it become a part of the left movement here. What does he mean by ‘Brahmanwad se azadi’?” Ishwar, belonging to the Brahmin community, said. 

Ishwar showed a letter he had written to the Prime Minister's grievance cell in 2017 complaining about lack of toilets which led to open defecation in the region. He said the action was taken in less than a year and more toilets were built. “I don't like Giriraj or any other BJP leader. My support is for Modi,” he added.

Expressing confidence, the CPI held a press conference in Patna on Thursday urging RJD to retire its candidate Tanweer saying “it’s a clear two-way contest” between Giriraj and Kanhaiya.

“Kanhaiya will either win or will end up being at the third position if his community (Bhumihar) decides to dump him overnight,” a CPI strategist in Begusarai said.