New Delhi: During a TV news debate this August, a 30-year-old spokeswoman of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) took seasoned anchor Arnab Goswami head on.
Goswami, who is wont to refer to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as “Rahul baba”, found himself on the receiving end when the spokeswoman repeatedly referred to him as “Arnab baba”. That was Kanchana Yadav, a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar who joined student politics in 2018 and got deeply influenced by RJD ideology.
In a separate debate, another spokeswoman of the RJD shut down Goswami, when he said, “I am an upper caste Brahmin.” She corrected him by saying, “You are not upper caste, you are ‘upper-ed’ caste, because no one is born upper and lower. This terminology itself carries discrimination.” To this, Goswami said that he agreed. That was Priyanka Bharti.
Both women, national spokespersons of the RJD, have taken TV studios by storm with their combative style. While MP Manoj Jha remains the intellectual face of the Bihar party in the national capital, the two youngsters are the talk in political circles.
Both Priyanka and Kanchana cut their teeth into politics at JNU, joining the RJD’s student wing Chhatra Rashtriya Janata Dal (CRJD) in 2018, the year when the party decided to strengthen its presence in the university’s student politics and contested the student union polls.
RJD functionaries told ThePrint that the idea behind activating the student wing in JNU in 2018 was to provide a platform for students from Bihar to connect with the regional party and channel their talent in its favour.
Kanchana and Priyanka are thus products of the RJD talent hunt among leaders of student politics. “It was the idea of MPs Manoj Jha and Sanjay Yadav to nurture young talent from JNU and bring them into the RJD. Prof. Nawal Kishore has been in-charge of CRJD JNU since its formation, and has played a crucial role in its growth,” a party functionary said.
Kanchana completed her PhD studies in computational and integrative sciences from JNU, while Priyanka is pursuing a PhD in German Studies at the university.
Recalling her entry into politics, Kanchana told ThePrint: “In 2018, I decided to enter student politics. I had other options too, but I was deeply influenced by the ideology of the RJD. (Party chief) Lalu Prasadji never compromised on ideology. Many students in JNU are generally drawn towards Left-wing student groups but I found Laluji’s ideology more principled.”
While at JNU, Kanchana raised several issues, including the fee hike and hostel-related problems. In October 2023, the RJD elevated her as national spokesperson.
Speaking about her own political journey, Priyanka told ThePrint: “I joined RJD’s student wing right after graduation. At that time, many protests were taking place at JNU. I had other options too, including joining Left-wing groups but I felt they were not vocal enough on caste issues.”
“I did not suddenly appear in politics. I led a movement against fee hike, and was beaten up brutally by the police. Pins were pierced into my skin. I got a tumour in my knee because of that. I started by distributing pamphlets for our student wing. While distributing pamphlets, a senior asked me who I was and why I was distributing CRJD parchas. I said I believed in social justice and the ideology of Laluji. That’s how I got my membership in CRJD,” she added.
Like Kanchana, Priyanka too was promoted to the post of RJD national spokesperson in 2023.
Tanvir Aeijaz, a political science professor at Delhi University, termed the RJD’s choice of the two spokeswomen as a “good move”.
“Both these women are articulate and vocal, and they do their homework before appearing on TV. They also have a strong local connection, which is reflected in their speech. By using hyper local proverbs, they are able to gain traction with the audience. They are good at English debates as well. At times, it is not easy for opponents to snub female spokespersons, so this strategy works in the RJD’s favour,” he told ThePrint.
Who are Kanchana and Priyanka?
Kanchana was born in Jaunpur district, Uttar Pradesh, though her family originally hails from Sasaram, Bihar. Her grandfather was a government employee whereas her father works in the private sector.
After completing graduate studies from Banaras Hindu University, she moved to JNU in 2017 for an MSc degree in Life Sciences. Alongside her student activism, she also secured a CSIR fellowship, she said.
After securing the fellowship, she said she was offered a scientist’s job in Bengaluru but she chose to stay back in Delhi to continue her political journey.
“The Bihar elections are more important for us right now. I will think about a job only after these polls,” she told ThePrint.
Priyanka hails from Fatuha town, on the eastern outskirts of Patna district, where her father works as a farmer.
The RJD fielded her as a candidate for the JNUSU presidential election in 2019. Although she did not win, she made her mark as a powerful orator.
“In 2023, Tejashwiji (RJD leader and Lalu’s son) called me and said he wanted to make me a spokesperson of the party. No one in my family has ever been in politics, so it was a proud moment for them to see me on national television,” she recalled. “From the career perspective, my PhD is still going on, but as of now my focus is on presenting my party’s stand in a better way on TV.”
Asked how she prepares for debates on national television, Kanchana said: “We only get information about the topic and debate time. We prepare ourselves by reading books and researching the subject thoroughly.”
On the same subject, Priyanka said that “mostly BJP spokespersons and even some TV anchors come without any preparation”.
“We are better prepared than them, as we have been studying our ideology and issues for years. On TV, it is clearly visible who is more prepared.”
‘Ban and bias’ on TV
Both Priyanka and Kanchana grabbed attention when some TV channels “banned them”.
“A news channel once told me that BJP spokespersons refused to debate with me, so they had put a ban on me. I questioned how BJP leaders could decide that. I feel some anchors act like ruling party spokespersons, showing aggression only towards the opposition’s representatives,” Kanchana said.
Priyanka said she had a similar experience; certain channels stopped inviting her to debates.
Kanchana said that during the “ban episode”, Tejashwi Yadav immediately called an urgent Zoom meeting.
“He was busy with the Vote Adhikar Yatra alongside Rahul Gandhi, but he still took time to address the issue. He made it clear that if any channel banned our spokespersons, then the party would also stop engaging with that channel, including refusing interviews. After that, the matter cooled down and invitations resumed,” she explained.
Priyanka also faced legal trouble when an FIR was filed against her allegedly for tearing pages of the Manusmriti during a live debate on TV in December last year.
“Some fringe right-wing elements filed the case, which is still going on in court. But Tejashwiji stood by me, and the party is supporting me in fighting it,” she said.
According to her, bias against Opposition leaders is openly visible on TV channels nowadays.
“These days, many so-called analysts on panels are actually supporters of one ideology. Once, political analyst Sangit Ragi insulted me by calling me ‘2 takey ki mahila (a cheap woman)’. I gave him a sharp reply. Many of them don’t come prepared, so they just start shouting and we respond in the same tone. Once, a channel blocked me for a year after I strongly confronted a communal anchor. I don’t hesitate to call out communal bias on TV debates,” Priyanka told ThePrint.
Kanchana spoke about how she had once defended former Congress president Sonia Gandhi during a debate, and the clip went viral. The debate was about abusive language in politics after derogatory comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother were allegedly made from the platform of a Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress event in Bihar.
“The anchor kept defending the BJP, even though their spokesperson was already present. I reminded them of PM Modi and BJP leaders’ previous derogatory remarks against women, such as calling Sonia Gandhi ‘Congress ki vidhwa (widow)’. The anchor got offended,” she said.
Kanchana asserted that “Rahul Gandhiji is the Leader of the Opposition, and as alliance partners we will defend him. We know how to give the right reply to BJP spokespersons and godi media anchors. We are fearless”. The Congress and RJD are part of the INDIA bloc.
She added that the “RJD’s communication strategy is aggressively taking on the BJP ahead of the polls in Bihar”.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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