Kanhaiya Kumar says Opposition reluctant to protect their base vote: 'Will BJP stop saying Hindu-Muslim?'

Congress leader and NSUI in-charge Kanhaiya Kumar. (PTI)

There is a sense of reluctance within Opposition parties to protect their vote base even as the Bharatiya Janata Party continues to act in a manner that benefits them, Congress leader and NSUI in-charge Kanhaiya Kumar, who is expected to play a key role in the party's campaign in the upcoming Bihar elections, has said.

Kanhaiya was responding to a question on the inability of the Congress and the INDIA bloc in Bihar to attract other communities beyond Muslims and the Yadav community.

"Many leaders are entirely dependent on their base vote — I don’t know what difficulty the Opposition has in accepting this," Kanhaiya said speaking to The Indian Express.

"In the Opposition, you will see a reluctance to protect their base vote. Will the BJP not keep saying Hindu-Muslim? BJP will do whatever benefits them. We won't make our strategy according to the BJP but our strategy is that the Congress is a party for everyone… We should protect our base vote and expand it," he added.

The INDIA bloc, or the Mahagathbandhan, primarily comprises the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and Left parties. The RJD counts Yadavs and Muslims as their biggest support base, the Congress also caters largely to the same vote bank, though with much smaller impact.

Asked about the concerns over the Congress' over-reliance on the RJD in Bihar, Kanhaiya said dismissed the perception and said that the Congress has its own role to play in the Opposition.

"I disagree that there is dependence on RJD. In the chemistry of politics, a lot depends on the proportion of many things and the Congress must play its role. Other than the RJD, which has a base vote that is the same as the general base vote of the Opposition, the Congress party’s job is to bring other people along. Teamwork is important," he said.

Kanhaiya also touched upon the issue of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and said that the Election Commission of India should refrain from working on fixing the voter lists in a hurried manner and the exercise, if indeed necessary, should be done thoroughly.

"This is the first time in 11 years that the Election Commission has admitted it made a mistake. They haven’t issued a statement but they have been forced to acknowledge that a mistake occurred and that there is a discrepancy in the voter list. They are planting news that people from Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar have been found in Bihar," he claimed.

Kumar further said that the EC was not handling its own responsibilities and assuming the responsibilities of other departments. "Verifying citizenship is not the job of the EC, it is the job of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The EC’s job is to identify voters and include their names in the voter list. It must accept any certificate issued by the government," he said, terming the EC's requirement of documents a "dangerous aspect".

"The EC must first admit that there was a discrepancy in the voter list… Don’t create more discrepancies while fixing the existing ones. Take your time. Prepare the voter list, don’t start doing the NRC instead," Kanhaiya further said.