Kanhaiya Kumar becomes poster boy for both Congress and left in Assam

Guwahati: More than politicians, the student leader and technocrats including IIT graduates seem to be high on demand to ensure victory in 2016 assembly polls.

If Prashant Kishore tops the list of election planner, JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar and Rohit Vemula even after his sad demise has become the poster boy for ruling Congress party in Assam.

However, soon after Congress party posters showing Kanhaiya Kumar behind the bar and photographs of Rohit Vemula hanging from rooftop flooded Assam, an alliance of six left political parties on Tuesday announced that Kumar would be campaigning for the alliance in April 4 and 11 elections in Assam.

CPM leader Deven Bhattacharya told reporters that six Left parties have decided to contest the elections under the banner of United Left Forum.

Veteran CPI leader Drupad Borgohain said that there was a possibility of Kumar campaigning in Assam. The JNUSU president, who is facing sedition charges, is likely to campaign for the Left parties in West Bengal and Kerala also.

Though, Congress party is silent over the poster of Kanhaiya Kumar and Rohit Vemula, it has already hired a group of graduates from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) who have deployed a “booth micromanagement” strategy to cultivate voters for the party. They have come up with the idea of “booth micromanagement programme”, which is to recruit three volunteers — one young, one old and one female — for every 100 voters.

Earlier, Gogoi had also tried to rope in noted election strategist Prashant Kishore to plan out his elections. However, Kishore in his prescription for Assam suggested replacing three-time chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

“He also suggested having an alliance with the AIUDF, which has support among immigrant Muslims,” said a senior Congress leader and added, “Both the ideas were shot down by AICC as well as the Assam PCC.”