Kanhaiya Kumar joins Congress

Bhubaneswar: Amid infighting in Congress in Punjab, former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar joined the grand old party today.

Along Kanhaiya Kumar, Gujarat Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani was inducted to the All India Congress Committee at its headquarters in New Delhi in presence of party leader Rahul Gandhi.

Earlier in the day, the posters welcoming the Jawaharlal Nehru University alumnus Kanhaiya Kumar were put up outside the Congress office in New Delhi.

Media reports said that he had met Rahul Gandhi twice before his decision to join Congress.

Earlier, he had joined the Communist Party of India (CPI) ahead of the 2019 general elections. He fought elections from his hometown Begusarai in Bihar against the BJP’s Giriraj Singh, but lost to his key rival.

Kanhaiya Kumar, the former President of JNU Students’ Union, was arrested on charges of raising ‘anti-national’ slogans at an event in 2016 on occasion of death anniversary of Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru.

Similarly, Jignesh is currently the MLA of Vadgam in Gujarat. He joined the Congress ahead of next year’s Assembly election in that State.

The induction of Kanhaiya Kumar and Jignesh into Congress is likely to strengthen the party during its struggle in the country.