CPI candidate from Bihar's Begusarai Lok Sabha seat Kanhaiya Kumar has said that this election is a battle between people who want to educate the youth and those who want them to make 'pakodas'.
Referring to the CBSE's decision to scrap chapters on 'democracy and diversity' from the political science textbook of class 9, he said, "If we remain silent today, democracy would be erased from the country tomorrow."
Opponents of Kumar are trying to corner the CPI leader over the sedition charge levelled against him in February 2016.
"If I am a criminal, why's the government not putting me in jail? If I have done something wrong, the government has the right to take action," the leader told PTI in an interview.
"The fact that I am contesting elections is a proof that the allegations of sedition are baseless. The public knows everything. People want to talk about real issues, but the BJP is engaging people in useless topics. In the last five years, the central government has not done anything for the public," said Kumar who is pitted against Giriraj Singh of the BJP and Tanvir Hassan of the RJD.
The CPI candidate said the conspirators are not bothered about the country and they want nobody to question them.
Expressing satisfaction over his election campaign, Kumar said he is excited over the kind of support he has been receiving from the people.
"If there is truth and honesty in the political battle then the people's support comes automatically," he said.
Asked about his entry into politics, Kumar said, "I have not decided anything. Destiny and circumstances decide everything. When I was born in Begusarai, I had not imagined that I will got to Delhi some day. In Delhi, I had not thought that I would go to JNU and become president of the students' union."
Talking about election funds, he said he believes that people's fight should be fought with their money. The CPI leader said his entire election campaign is going on with people's support.
"Youngsters want to study and do something for the country but there are people who want them to make 'pakodas'," Kumar said.
The CPI leader alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was working overtime to "destroy" the country. "Modi is working 20 hours every day and the country is being destroyed," he said while taking a jibe at the prime minister.
Begusarai is considered a citadel of the Congress as the party has so far won eight times from the seat.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Bhola Singh of the BJP defeated Tanvir Hassan of the RJD by 58,335 votes from Begusarai. Rajendra Prasad Singh of the CPI was at number three with 1,92,639 votes.
Prior to that, Monajir Hassan of the JDU had defeated CPI (M) leader Shatrughan Prasad Singh in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. In 2004, Rajiv Ranjan Singh of the JDU defeated Krishna Shahi of the Congress.
The CPI had won from this seat in the 1967 Lok Sabha election, where its candidate Yogendra Sharma had emerged victorious.
The total number of voters in the Begusarai constituency is 19,53,007, of which 10,38,983 are males and 9,13,962 are females.
Known as Bihar's 'Leningrad' and 'Mini Moscow', the Begusarai constituency has fairly good number of Bhumihars, Yadavs and Muslims.
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