Three-Way Street

Begusarai has attracted the attention of the entire nation as poster boys of social justice, hindutva and the left fight it out.

- Pratul Sharma

On a muggy afternoon, Kanhaiya Kumar, the CPI candidate from Begusarai, was scheduled to speak in the Muslim dominated area of Laruara. Kanhaiya was surprised to see balloons at the venue. There was cake, too, as it was his birthday. Once the brief celebrations were over, Kanhaiya gave his speech. Before he could leave, his supporters wanted him to recite the famous azadi song, which he used to sing while leading students’ protests at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Kanhaiya, who was president of the JNU students’ union, was the face of the anti-government protests, which erupted in JNU three years ago. As he sang the azadi song once again, the crowd joined him enthusiastically. The song, penned 35 years ago by activist Kamla Bhasin, is a highlight of Kanhaiya’s Lok Sabha campaign as well.

Begusarai lies on the northern bank of the Ganga, which divides the fertile plains of Bihar into two. Though it is only 130km from Patna, it often takes more than six hours to cover the distance because of traffic jams caused by thousands of trucks plying the single-lane highway. Development is slow in the agriculture-dominated landscape, despite the presence of a refinery and a fertiliser plant.

The BJP had swept the Hindi heartland along the Ganga from Uttarakhand to Bihar in 2014. And, Begusarai was no exception. This time, the constituency has attracted the attention of the entire nation because of the three-cornered contest in which the poster boys of hindutva, the left and social justice are fighting it out.