Begusarai (Bihar): CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar on Monday exuded the confidence he will come up trumps in his much-talked-about electoral debut against nominees of the mightier BJP and the RJD, asserting that people of Begusarai would vote from "dil" (hearts) and not go by dal (party). Waiting for his turn to cast his vote at a polling station inside a government secondary school that he had attended, the former JNU students' union president said he was excited to be at his alma mater in a new role.

The 32-year-old, who shot to fame three years ago when he was booked in a sedition case lodged in Delhi, is engaged in a three-cornered contest with Union minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh and RJD veteran Tanveer Hassan.