CPI formally fields Kanhaiya Kumar from Begusarai

The CPI on Sunday formally announced it will field former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) President Kanhaiya Kumar from Begusarai in Bihar to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

State CPI Secretary Satyanarayan Singh said here: "Kanhaiya will be the CPI candidate from Begusarai."

The announcement came two days after the Grand Alliance of RJD, Congress and other parties did not allocate Begusarai to the Communist Party of India (CPI). The RJD is set to field Tanweer Hasan, who unsuccessfully contested from Begusarai in 2014.

With the BJP fielding firebrand and Union Minister Giriraj Singh, Begusarai is set to see a three-cornered fight. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the seat in 2014.

But Kanhaiya Kumar told the media here on Sunday that his main fight will be against Giriraj Singh, not against the RJD.

Kanhaiya Kumar, now 32, was arrested in February 2016 and accused of sedition for allegedly doing nothing to prevent the raising of anti-India slogans in the JNU campus.

JNUSU President in 2015-16, he was pursuing his doctorate from the School of International Studies in the university.

Kanhaiya Kumar was then affiliated to the CPI's All India Students Federation (AISF).

--IANS

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