Begusarai Lok Sabha election result: Kanhaiya Kumar trailing; blow for alternative politics in Bihar

In one of the most watched electoral contests from Bihar, CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar is trailing Union Minister Giriraj Singh in Begusarai. If the trends consolidate it will be seen as a setback to alternative politics in the region and beyond. Kanhaiya’s candidature and campaign were backed by celebrities such as Swara Bhaskar and Shabana Azmi.

Kanhaiya, the ex-president of JNU’s student union, was up against Giriraj and Tanveer Hassan, the RJD candidate.  

Even Prakash Raj, the actor contesting as an Independent from Bengaluru Central, went all the way to Begusarai to back the youth leader.

Observers had, however, said that a three-way split between the BJP, CPI and RJD would split the anti-BJP vote.

Kanhaiya had filed his nomination on April 9 followed by a three-km-long roadshow which was attended by Jammu and Kashmir politician and former JNU student leader Shehla Rashid, Dalit activist and MLA Jignesh Mevani and social activist Gurmehar Kaur.  

Though belonging to the upper caste, Kanhaiya did not run a caste-centric campaign and appealed to the disadvantaged from across groups.

It needs to be seen what trajectory Kanhaiya’s politics takes after these results. In interviews he has claimed that he is in Begusarai for the long haul irrespective of the Lok Sabha results.