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Patna: In an innovative move, former Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, contesting the Lok Sabha elections as a Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate, has turned to crowdfunding to meet his poll expenses.
But what was surprising, the youth leader contesting from Begusarai, known as the “Leningrad of Bihar”, collected more than Rs3 million within 30 hours through crowdfunding until the site crashed. He had set a target of collecting Rs7 million though the crowdfunding campaign launched in partnership with OurDemocracy, a platform to raise money, on Tuesday.
“I need your support. No amount is big or small. Contribute what you can. If you believe in democracy, I am seeking your support,” was how Kanhaiya said in his video appeal to the masses and it worked wonders. Within no time, the people across the country came forward, liberally offering money — from Rs100 to Rs500,000.
I need your support. No amount is big or small. Contribute what you can. If you believe in democracy, I am seeking your support.
Soon thereafter, however, the site faced technical trouble after which it had to be shut down. “Finally we decided to shut down the platform on Thursday but the money donated by various people in the country is safe,” said a party leader on Friday.
Kanhaiya himself has expressed shock and dismay at the way he was being harassed. “On one hand we have got your support, on the other, as always, we are facing the conspiracies of those who do not want the voice of the exploited and the dispossessed to reach Parliament. For the last two days, we have faced repeated cyber attacks to shut down our donation website,” Kanhaiya said in his Facebook post.
The youth leader who faces sedition charges is locked in a bitter contest with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and federal minister Giriraj Singh and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) nominee Tanvir Hasan in the poll arena. Initially, the Grand Alliance was scheduled to spare this seat for the CPI but it decided to join the fray after it became clear the BJP is to field Giriraj from there.
In fact, Begusari Lok Sabha seat is dominated by upper caste Bhumihar voters, and both Kanhaiya and Giriraj came from the same caste. The RJD now thinks the sharp split in Bhumihar votes will obviously brighten victory chances of its candidate. In the last LS polls, the RJD candidate had lost the seat with a little over 58,000 votes.
Apparently that was the reason the BJP candidate was initially refusing to contest from Begusarai seat but was forced to join the poll fray following instruction by BJP chief Amit Shah. Giriraj, however, said he was angry over change of his political constituency. He currently represents Nawada seat but now has been shifted to Begusarai.
He alleges that his constituency was changed without his prior consultation. After a meeting with BJP chief Amit Shah, Singh, has now agreed to contest election.
His main grievance is that none of the Union ministers from Bihar had their LS seats changed except for him. Begusari goes to polls in the fourth phase. The 17th Lok Sabha Election will begin on APR 11 and end on May 19. The counting of the votes will take place on May 23.
