CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar is just a "new chap" and BJP's Giriraj Singh is a "kath ki handi" (spent force), says RJD's Tanveer Hassan, who is confident of his victory from Bihar's Begusarai Lok Sabha seat, which goes to polls on April 29.
Dismissing the idea of a triangular contest in the constituency, Hassan said the fight is only between him and Singh, while Kumar is just "existing".
Begusarai, once known as "Leningrad of Bihar" due to the strong presence of Left parties, converted into "Lalugrad" after the 90s, the RJD leader, who lost to BJP's Bhola Singh from the seat in 2014, told PTI.
"The Communist Party (of India) had contested elections in 2014 as well and it had finished third in Begusarai. Kanhaiya is just a new chap and it's not that the party's vote share will double just with his name," Hassan said.
"The ground reality is that the CPI is not better than what it was in the last elections and Kanhaiya is just existing in the triangle," he added.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, CPI's Rajendra Singh stood a distant third after the BJP and the RJD with nearly 1.92 lakh votes.
Asked about the popularity of Kumar, former Jawaharlal Nehru Students' Union (JNUSU) president, in Begusarai, Hassan said, "It's all negative only. I may not be very popular with the media, but the ground reality is different."