Kanhaiya Kumar meets Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s aide, triggers speculation

CPI leader and former JNU Students’ Union president, Kanhaiya Kumar, met senior Bihar minister and a close aide of Nitish Kumar, Ashok Choudhary, triggering speculations about his next political move.

The closely-watched meeting comes amid CPI passing a censure motion against Kanhaiya recently at the party’s meeting in Hyderabad charging him with “misbehaviour with a party office-bearer at CPI’s Patna office.”

Though both the leaders – Kanhaiya and Choudhary - termed the meet as a “courtesy call” and asked the media not to read between the lines, sources said there could be more than meets the eye. And the reasons are one too many.

First, Choudhary is Building Construction Minister in Bihar, besides the working president of the State JD (U). It was he who recently helped BSP MLA, Jama Khan, meet Nitish and eventually join the JD (U) and later as a minister in the Nitish government. It was Choudhary again who facilitated a meeting between Nitish and Independent MLA Sumit Singh. Sumit was also made a minister in the last week’s Cabinet expansion.

Secondly, Kanhaiya, who contested as CPI candidate against the BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh from Begusarai in 2019, has been quite vocal against the BJP but quite soft towards Nitish.

Thirdly, Kanhaiya and Ashok Choudhary enjoy their ‘JNU bonding’ as both have done their post-graduation from Jawaharlal Nehru University. But more than that, it is believed in the corridors of power here that those who want to meet Nitish, has to first meet Choudhary.

“If Kanhaiya is ready to give up the Communist ideology and become a disciplined soldier of JD (U), he is welcome,” said JD (U) spokesperson Ajay Alok, amid wide political speculations.