Kanhiya Kumar, Jignesh Mewani to be new faces of drowning Congress? Kumar meets RaGa; speculations rise

Former JNU Students Union president and CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar met Rahul Gandhi probably to prepare the ground for his entry into the Congress, which has suffered desertion by many young leaders in the past two years. According to reports, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani too is in touch with the Congress leadership after it had helped Mevani in the last Assembly elections by not fielding a candidate from the Vadgam seat in Banaskantha district of northern Gujarat.

 

 

Kumar feels suffocated in the CPI and so he met Gandhi on Tuesday and the two are learnt to have discussed his entry into the Congress. When asked about Kumar’s possible exit, CPI general secretary D Raja said he has only heard speculation in this regard. “I can only say that he was present at the national executive meeting of our party earlier this month. He spoke and participated in the deliberations,” Raja said.

 

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The Congress had been in political wilderness in Bihar for the past three decades. Even in last year’s Assembly elections, it performed badly when compared to allies RJD and CPI(ML). The Congress could win only 19 of the 70 seats it contested. While the RJD won more than half of the 144 seats it contested, the CPI(ML) won 12 of the 19 seats where it fielded candidates.

 

 

Congress party assumably believes that the entry of Kumar and Mevani will give it a boost, at least optics wise, since one of the narratives regarding the party in the past two years has been of young leaders- among them Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sushmita Dev, Jitin Prasada and Priyanka Chaturvedi, leaving the party.

 

It is another matter that at least some of the leaders in the Congress believe that Kumar could be a baggage for the party given his controversial past. Even in the CPI, he had faced a censure – a mild disciplinary action – earlier this year for a ruckus at the party’s Patna office in December last year.

 

If Kumar, who is known for his oratory skills, joins the Congress, the party could also use him for campaigning in Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. With the SP and BSP making it clear that they will not join hands with the Congress for the forthcoming Assembly elections, the party will be fighting the elections on its own.

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