Former JNU students’ union president and CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar is in talks with Congress leaders to join the party, Congress sources said. If all goes well, a meeting will be arranged with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after which Kanhaiya Kumar may join the party, sources said.
Kumar had fought the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 on a CPI ticket, but lost to BJP stalwart Giriraj Singh from Bihar’s Begusarai constituency. Since then, he has maintained a low profile and is now set to launch a fresh political innings in the Congress. A top Congress source said that including Kanhaiya in the Congress is under serious consideration at the top level of the party, but it has not yet been finalised how and when he will join. The joining could be significant at a time when the party isfacing a leadership crisis with no big faces to attract the masses. Kumar is considered to be a crowd puller, especially among the youth. But the Congress needs to consider how this will be viewed by its ally the Rashtriya Janata Dal. A senior leader said that talks were initiated during the Bihar Assembly elections too, but for some reason, no fruitful results came. Now another round of talks has been started with Kanhaiya Kumar, sources said.