New Delhi: Former JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) leader Kanhaiya Kumar leading a yatra in Bihar has caused heartburns in the Congress ranks, with many leaders taking exception to the high command’s attempt to project him as its ‘poster boy’ in the state from where he remained largely absent after his poll debacle in 2019.
Senior Congress leaders have mostly skipped the first two days of the ‘Palayan Roko Naukri Do’ yatra, which was launched Sunday in West Champaran and is likely to culminate in Patna on 14 April, the birth anniversary of B.R.Ambedkar.
The Print has learnt that Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru chalked out the padyatra plan after consulting Kanhaiya. Bihar Congress functionaries claim that the party’s top brass was aware of the yatra plan, but that the state leadership did not have any inkling about it.
The Bihar unit’s minority leaders are said to have expressed their reservation regarding the timing of the yatra as the fasting month of Ramzan is on. Some of the leaders ThePrint spoke to lamented that the timing of the yatra was decided without taking their opinion.
”As of now a month of Ramzan is going on, and so is an assembly session (Bihar Budget session); so many leaders, especially Muslims, are unable to participate. But, we will join later as it is a party event, but, yes, its timing is not matching our schedule,” Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in the Bihar Assembly, Shakeel Ahmad Khan, told ThePrint.
Khan emphasised that yatra is not any individual’s campaign, but a party programme. “…I heard many people call it ‘Kanhaiya’s yatra’, No it is not. It was never Kanhaiya Kumar’s yatra; it is a party’s programme. It is good to see that Kanhaiya has returned to Bihar from his ‘Delhi Pravas’ (migration). He should get more active in his home state,” the former JNUSU president told ThePrint.
Senior leader Tariq Anwar conceded that there were some differences of opinion regarding the dates, but added that it was “not mandatory to attend” the yatra. “It is basically a programme of youth and NSUI (National Students’ Union of India). So, we are not bound to attend it; though, we will try to reach there in the last leg,” the Katihar MP told ThePrint.
Araria MLA Abidur Rahman, too, highlighted that the Budget session was ongoing in the Bihar assembly. “So, we have not gone there; but, our wishes are with them.”
ThePrint has reached Kanhaiya and Allavaru for comment. The report will be updated as and when they respond.
Also Read: How Congress is charting Kanhaiya’s path back to political fray in poll-bound Bihar
State unit neglected?
Though the then Congress state chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh attended the inaugural ceremony of the yatra, the Congress circles were abuzz that he was upset for not being kept in the loop about the yatra’s plan. Singh, on his part, has come out at least thrice to rebut such talks.
”In politics, it (Singh’s repeated statements) is a way of giving a message to high command. Everyone in the Bihar Congress circle knows that he (Singh) is close to Lalu Yadav. He does not want any such activity which could hurt Lalu or (Lalu’s son) Tejashwi, and they do not like Kanhaiya Kumar. It’s an open secret,” a senior Congress leader told ThePrint.
Incidentally, Singh had started his political career with Lalu’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) from which he had switched to the Congress in 2010.
”By making Kanhaiya a poster boy in Bihar, it will not help us as he was totally absent for the last five years after contesting the 2019 elections (as a CPI candidate from Begusarai). He does not have any local base apart from Begusarai connection. Apart from it, the Lalu family may get irked with his activities. This could also impact our alliance talks. The party needs to promote local leaders (read, MLAs and MPs) more, rather than bringing someone from Delhi,” a Congress MP from Bihar told ThePrint.
Another Congress state leader was more forthcoming about why senior functionaries were “upset” with the entry of Kanhaiya.
“Without any hard work or activity, he has been made a poster boy… The yatra’s name is ‘Palayan Roko Naukri Do’ yatra, but it has become Kanhaiya’s yatra,” this leader told ThePrint. “When he reached Bihar for padyatra at Patna airport, his supporters chanted, ‘Humara CM kaisa ho, Kanhaiya Kumar jaisa ho.’ This also hurt many leaders as they thought that it was a well-planned strategy.”
Kanhaiya hails from Bihar’s Begusarai, and the yatra targeting the youth has posters and photos of the NSUI leader all over the place. For many, the yatra is a platform for Kanhaiya’s re-entry in Bihar politics. He joined the Congress in September 2021 and was entrusted with the post of NSUI in-charge in July 2023.
A section of Bihar Congress leaders say that Kanhaiya is also likely to contest upcoming assembly polls. ”As of now, we have only 19 MLAs and three MPs in Bihar. So to improve our performance, the party needs to increase its activities. With the entry of Kanhaiya Kumar, at least Bihar Congress comes in the media headlines,” a senior state functionary told ThePrint.
Congress state spokesperson Rajesh Rathore sought to play down the unease about Kanhaiya’s prominence in the foot march. “We all are in favour of such yatras. As of now, the yatra is getting good response. There is no controversy regarding Kanhaiya Kumar’s entry in Bihar politics. For us, party comes first. If any event is happening, then it is our responsibility to promote it. We all are united to promote this yatra,” he told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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