The CPI had to distance itself from Kanhaiya’s campaign speech in support of then Madhepura MP Pappu Yadav (the party even underplayed it as “misunderstanding”) who had been jailed for murdering the communist leader Ajit Sarkar before being acquitted by the Patna High Court in 2013. The CPI still believes that Yadav’s involvement in Sarkar’s murder cannot be ruled out. Kanhaiya’s move was apparently to attract a section of Yadav votes, though his party was left embarrassed in the process. Interestingly, Kanhaiya and his party had no qualms about unsuccessfully seeking the support for their ally Rashtriya Janta Dal, whose former Siwan MP was one of the accused in the murder of former JNU Students Union head Chandrasekhar, who belonged to the All India Students Association, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). Though the CBI did not pursue former RJD MP’s role (he was named in FIR), the Left parties in Bihar are convinced that he masterminded the murder.