With Kanhaiya Kumar’s Entry, ‘Laal Salaam’ is Back in Fashion

In Bihar’s Begusarai, Kanhaiya Kumar’s grassroots politics is seen as a breather in a caste-driven electorate.

In Bihat’s Begusarai, Kanhaiya Kumar’s grassroot politics is seen as a breather in a caste-driven electorate.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Kanhaiya Kumar)

Off the Asian Highway AH42, a narrow road crawls into an otherwise sleepy village of Bihat, in Bihar’s Begusarai.

Unsurprisingly, today it is bustling with excitement and activity. My singular agenda of the day was to experience the phenomenon of the man who dared to challenge the Goliath-esque leader of the country.

I lower my car window and ask an old lady with furrowed brows, “Kanhaiya ka ghar kidhar hai? (where is Kanhaiya’s house?)”. Almost as if working on automation, she points me in the direction.

Within a few minutes, I reach the doorsteps of Kanhaiya's house, the man seen by the ruling party as a major ‘red’ flag – who is already a rising star in Left politics.

Surrounded by about 50 people, it was easy to see the effect Kanhaiya had on those who hero-worship this quiet, yet formidable, young man. Kanhaiya’s grassroot politics is seen as a breather in a caste-driven electorate.

Like Kanhaiya, for the first time, what is emerging is a new front of clean and crowd-funded politicians – Jignesh Mevani, Prakash Raj, Shehla Rashid, Atishi and a few more.

These next-gen politicians are helping each other win, cutting across the party lines. It is an amazing phenomenon, almost promising to transform the political traditions of this country.

Playing by Rules

It is the last day of this marathon campaign that Kanhaiya has mobilised. It comes with many firsts. It is for the first time that many people candidly assert that they will vote without any caste or religious considerations.

Saffron caps are far and few, despite the money power at play. And when you bump into them, they coyly pass. No show of jingoism and without the characteristic chants of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai (Hail Mother India!)”.

Probably, for the first time, we have a challenger who is playing the game by the rules – just Rs 70 lakhs budget to cover nearly 2,000 square km of Begusarai (roughly the same size as Mauritius).

Arithmetic Supports Kanhaiya

Arithmetic is clearly siding with Kanhaiya, at least this is what Haider Ali Khan, an ardent follower, believes. In 2014 Lok Sabha election, CPI got nearly 2 lakh votes (core cadre votes, that will simply fall in Kanhaiya’s lap with a top-up of at least 50K to 100K of Left-leaning constituents of Begusarai).

The BJP won with 4.28 lakh votes, at the peak of the Modi wave in 2014. Today, the Begusarai air has Kanhaiya all over.

‘Visa Mantri,’ as Kanhaiya has rechristened Giriraj Singh, the BJP candidate, is all set to lose more than 1 lakh votes.

Tanveer Hasan of the RJD managed 3.29 lakh last time. But this time, the going is tough. Muslims (14 percent of the population) are clearly disenchanted with him.

Faheem Ali says, “Hasan saheb se aur RJD se nahi ho payega. Modi ko sirf Kanhaiya lalkaar sakta hai. Musalmaan ka aawaz sirf Kanhaiya ban sakta hai (Only Kanhaiya can become the voice of Muslims. Tanveer Hasan and the RJD are incapable of beating Modi)”.

This is the most vehement narrative amongst Muslims. And the presence of many skull caps in Kanhaiya’s ‘Azadi band’ bear testimony to the support.

The votes that the BJP is expected to lose are Hindu votes – which Kanhaiya could potentially gain. Likewise, the votes that Hasan could lose, Muslim votes in this case, mostly certainly could rally up Kanhaiya’s numbers.

Add to these, another 2 lakh to original cadre votes of CPI. Can you spot the writing on the wall?

Left Politics at Point of Inflexion

With Kanhaiya’s entry, the once redundant ‘Laal Salaam’ is back in fashion. Kanhaiya has simplified the Left ideology and made it palatable in uncountable social media clips that show him slaying the right-wing bigots at different forums.

He has added a certain amount of ‘pro-Constitution’ masala in the Left wing political narrative, which is capturing the imagination of youth. Whoever wins, the Left-wing politics is at the point of inflexion. And there is just one way to go – up.

As the sun sets, Kanhaiya and his cavalcade of ‘Red-Young-Turks’ are back in Bihat. Hanging their boots for the day, just 48 hours to go before the fate of Begusarai will be sealed in the EVMs.

As I park my car, I see the same lady dazzling a smile through the maze of her wrinkles, while she passes by with a pile of straw on her head. As if she has sensed the winds of change.

(Ashish Ranjan is a corporate professional by day and a socialist by night, much like how he wants Neo Left politics to be. He believes in supporting issues, not political parties. With Twitter as his guilty pleasure, he indulges his need to discuss and debate about politics online when he is not cooking or fishing. He tweets @arpatna.)