Will Kanhaiya Kumar Bring Typhoon In Indian Politics?
The Article is published in The Companion on
A person from a small town who was
aspiring to take the traditional route of a JNU student – PhD and then
Professor, instead became the former president of JNU and a hope to
millions – Kanhaiya Kumar. He came into public attention when he was
arrested in February 2016. A case was registered against him under
charges of sedition. He was charged over an event organised by some
students in Jawaharlal Nehru University, a sedition case that involved
the use of slogans against the nation. Kanhaiya Kumar denied the
charges. He said he was neither shouting any slogan nor saying anything
against the integrity of the country.
Now, he is fighting 2019 Lok Sabha
elections and up against two famous figures of Bihar politics. It is not
going to be a smooth fight, though. He is set into opposition with
Giriraj Singh, a union minister in BJP, and Tanveer Hasan, a member of
Bihar’s Legislative Council RJD. Was that political activism of Kanhaiya
that brought him to mainstream politics? And will that incident of
February 2016 disrupt in future the political power of many parties of
India that may be an interesting question for political pundits?
Edward Lorenz states small causes
can have large effects. This famous concept is imagined with a butterfly
flapping its wings in one part of the world, causing a typhoon in
another part of the world. Of course, we know it’s just a theory which
says practically it is not possible. It simply argues on how simple
actions can produce large complex effects. The flapping of butterfly by
its wings may act as a catalyst to produce a series of events that may
cause a typhoon. Someone can point out the butterfly effect in every
domain of life even in politics. The butterfly effect can animate political activism and has the potential to dethrone.
The butterfly was the JNU president
Kahaiya Kumar. The butterfly’s flapping the wings was the response of
Kanhaiya and his friends to claims made by people in government. Then a
series of consequential events were noticed, Kanhaiya and his friends
addressed the issues that not only belonged to them but also they were
found vocal about many mainstream issues and dreadful events happened in
last few years. People were imagining the group acting as opposition
outside the parliament.No one might have imagined the event is creating a
wave in Indian politics, and nationalism would be a central topic of
debate amongst a few popular agenda of 2019 elections.
That was a noticeable change; change may
be either good or bad, or both or neither. Someone could not comment
exactly over that until someone experiences it. Whatever the results may
be, either he loses or wins the response he received from public
brought him into the limelight of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. There are
always few VIP seats in every election, and media is forced to focus;
now Begusarai constituency is one of them to bargain best for their
TRPs. Kanhaiya is a new entrant into regional politics. The support he
received in this election gives a cue to the dawn of typhoon may disrupt
the power of many in the future?
Mahagathbandhan was a reactive alliance
from all the regional parties to fight with NDA. If they were sincere
about their objective, the political pundits say Kanhaiya Kumar would be
best candidate from Begusarai constituency to face off. But they have
fielded Tanveer Hasan of RJD. Does that mean the parties in
Mahagathbandhan are simultaneously worried about their future stakes in
the regional politics? It seems they are least interested to integrate
the pie. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections Bhola Singh of BJP received 4.28
lakh votes. Tanveer Hasan of RJD received 3.69 Lakh followed by CPI
candidate Rajendra Singh 1.92 Lakh. If Mahagathbandhan would have
announced Kanhaiya Kumar as a candidate that means a clear victory for
them. That demonstrates it is more than the victory of Mahagathbandhan
candidate. Maybe this temporary support empowers the battle of CPI vs
other parties in future and powerful to come back of CPI in Leningrad.
In 1962 Lok Sabha elections Communist
Party of India (CPI) won 29 seats. After 52 years, in 2014 Lok Sabha
elections they have managed to win one seat. There is a consistent
decrease in performance of CPI in elections. Many believe the ideology
of CPI is struggling for its existence in India. And many who
religiously follow the communist ideology see Kanhaiya Kumar as Messiah
who can vitalize the party throughout the nation. Even young people look
at him with innocent hope that can bring the desired change in their
life; he will be a person who can speak for them. The follower of CPI
wants to hear the voice of the leftist in parliament through him.
Arvind Kejriwal won the 2013 Delhi
Legislative Assembly elections. Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor
defeated their rivalries in Gujrat 2017 elections. All emerged as a big
challenge for both the parties either BJP or Congress. Similarly, the
logical train of thoughts leads to the case : if kanhaiya Kumar wins,
his voice would be more audible as compared to now. He will evolve as a
challenge for not only Congress or BJP but also to regional parties RJD
and JDU, particularly in Bihar. That may empower CPI as a whole
throughout the nation, therefore, the challenge for many.
His success may act as a paradigm for
those who belong to a poor family and have political aspirations. If he
wins that would be an example on the ground to fight an election with
just 7 Million INR (around 100k USD), surprisingly all from
crowdfunding. That will strengthen the belief of many who want to fight
for themselves.
The current scenario and audibility of
efforts from the people paint a picture of Kanhaiya Kumar’s victory of
winning hearts of Begusarai, no matters he wins or loses the election.
The butterfly’s flapping the wings already happened in JNU; will that
bring typhoon in Indian Politics?
