Candidature of former JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar from Begusarai constituency in Bihar was the “deal-breaker” between CPI and RJD as the Lalu Prasad-led party doubted Kumar’s winnability quotient in view of several controversies surrounding him.
According to Rajya Sabha MP and RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha, the CPI-RJD alliance could not be forged also because his party was not willing to compromise on its candidate Tanveer Hassan, considering his popularity and the work done by him in Begusarai.
“RJD has been a very strong force. Even in the so-called Modi wave in 2014 elections, our candidate got almost four lakh votes and since then he has never left Begusarai. It was impossible for us to set aside Tanveer Hassan’s candidature. We have a strong cadre and that wanted Tanveer Hassan and there is nothing we could have done. It is all about our cadre, our people, therefore, another candidature than his became a deal-breaker,” he told PTI.
In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Hasan had finished second by losing to BJP’s Bhola Singh by a small margin of over 55,000 votes. CPI’s Rajendra Singh was at a distant third with nearly 1.92 lakh votes.