New Delhi: Former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar today joined the Congress party. He inducted at the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of party leader Rahul Gandhi.
At the event, Gujarat Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, too, extended his support to the outfit, though he couldn’t join the party formally due to technical reasons.
“I am joining the Congress because it’s not just a party, it’s an idea. It’s the country’s oldest and most democratic party, and I am emphasising on ‘democratic’…Not just me, but many think the country can’t survive without Congress,” Kumar said at a press meet after joining Congress.
“Congress party is like a big ship. If it’s saved, I believe many people’s aspirations, Mahatma Gandhi’s oneness, Bhagat Singh’s courage, and BR Ambedkar’s idea of equality will be protected, too. This is why I have joined it.”
Kumar was earlier with the Communist Party of India (CPI) which he joined ahead of the 2019 general election. He then contested from his hometown Begusarai in Bihar against the BJP’s Giriraj Singh of the BJP but failed to win.
A former president of the JNU Students’ Union, Mr Kumar was jailed over alleged “anti-national slogans” raised at an event in 2016 to mark the death anniversary of Afzal Guru.
Mevani, on the other hand, is a legislator representing Gujarat’s Vadgam constituency. He is key to the Congress’s poll arithmetic ahead of next year’s Assembly election in that state.
A lawyer and former journalist, the Dalit leader’s expression of support for the Congress comes at a time when the party is reaching out to the community — it recently replaced Amarinder Singh as Punjab Chief Minister with Charanjit Singh Channi, a member of a Scheduled Caste.
“I could not join the Congress formally due to technical reasons. I am an independent MLA, if I join a party, I may not continue as an MLA…I am part of the Congress ideologically but I will fight the upcoming Gujarat polls from Congress symbol,” Mewani said.
“To save democracy and the idea of India, I have to be with a party that led the Independence struggle and dragged the British out of the country. This is why I am here with the Congress today.”
Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.
FPK Android App for 2G. Click here to Download.
