Kanhaiya Kumar, a young icon of leftist politics in India, is going to enter the politics of change of party. He is going to leave the Communist Party and join the Congress. Indian media outlet NDTV has reported the possibility of his resignation this week.
Kanhaiya Kumar was scheduled to join the Congress on October 2, NDTV reported on Saturday, citing relevant sources. But the plan has changed. He may formally join the Congress next Tuesday on Bhagat Singh’s birthday. Along with Kanhaiya Kumar, Gujarat MLA and popular Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani is also scheduled to join the Congress.
The Congress is trying to recruit youths before next year’s state elections and the 2024 national elections. Through this, the party is trying to restore its image as well as strengthen its declining influence in Indian politics. Kanhaiya Kumar is by far the biggest name in the Congress’ attempt to bring in young icons.
Kanhaiya Kumar, who believes in leftist ideology, lives in Bihar. He came to the discussion in 2016 after going to jail in a sedition case. At the time, Kanhaiya Kumar was the elected president of the student parliament of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi.
February 9, 2016 was the fourth anniversary of the execution of Kashmir independence leader Afzal Guru. Afzal was convicted of attacking the Indian Parliament. A protest meeting was held at the JNU campus that day. From that meeting allegations of sedition arose. The meeting was chaired by the then President of the Student Parliament Kanhaiya Kumar. He was accompanied by student leaders Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.
Later, the police completed the process of filing a case against 9 people including these 3 former student leaders on the charge of sedition. Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested. He was released on three-week bail from Tihar Jail. This incident made Kanhaiya Kumar a young icon across India. At that time, the slogan of ‘Azadi’ was reborn in the throat of Kanhaiya Kumar in India.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Kanhaiya Kumar stood for election from a seat in Bihar. However, he lost to BJP’s high profile candidate Giriraj Singh. Although he could not win, Kanhaiya Kumar further strengthened his position in the field of national politics as an orator. At the same time, he raised the public contribution of Rs 60 lakh for the election and gave birth to the discussion again.
