Ahead of CPI leader and former JNU Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar’s joining the Congress on Tuesday, posters welcoming Kumar into the Congress have been put up outside the party office in the national capital.
New Delhi [India], September 28 : Sources close to Kanhaiya Kumar had earlier said that he and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani will join the Congress in the presence of party leader Rahul Gandhi at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday evening. Kumar is a former president of JNU and Mevani belongs to the Dalit community. Before joining the Congress, Kumar and Mevani are likely to go to Shaheedi Park at ITO here to garland the statue of Bhagat Singh, a day after the 114th birth anniversary of the freedom fighter. Rahul Gandhi is likely to be present with them at ITO. Youth Congress workers will be present in “large numbers” at the venue. Congress general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal and Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel are also likely to be present when Kumar and Mevani will join the Congress. The joining is taking place after some prominent Congress leaders left the party in recent months. While former Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev has joined the Trinamool Congres, former union minister Jitin Prasada is now with the BJP. Veteran Goa Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro resigned from the party on Monday. The resignation of youth leaders had caused some disquiet in the party and sections of the party feel that the induction of Kumar and Mevani will help send a positive message to the party rank and file. Kumar is a member of the CPI national executive, a top decision-making body of the party. Mevani is an independent MLA from the Vadgam constituency in Gujarat and convener of Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM). In the 2017 Gujarat Assembly election, the Congress party did not field its candidate against Mevani in the Vadgam constituency.
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Kanhaiya Kumar removes AC from Patna CPI office
New Delhi [India], September 28 : With Kanhaiya Kumar likely to join the Congress party on Tuesday, CPI Bihar state secretary Ram Naresh Pandey on Tuesday confirmed that some days ago Kanhaiya had taken out the AC installed by him in the CPI’s state office in Patna. “I gave my consent because he had installed it at his own cost,” Pandey said. Pandey said that he hopes that Kumar will take back his decision to join the Congress. Pandey said, “I still hope that Kanhaiya Kumar will not join Congress because his mindset is communist and such people are strict with their ideology.” Pandey also mentioned that Kumar participated in the National Executive Council meeting of CPI on September 4 and 5 in the national capital, and added, “During the meeting, he never gave any intention of leaving the party, nor did he demand any specific party post.” Former JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar and Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM) MLA Jignesh Mewani from Gujarat are expected to join the Congress party on September 28. Currently, Kumar, a CPI leader, is a member of the National Executive Council, a top decision-making body of the party. Mewani is an independent MLA from the Vadgam constituency in Gujarat and convener of RDAM. In the 2017 Gujarat Assembly election, the Congress party did not field its candidate against Mewani in the Vadgam constituency.
