Kanhaiya Kumar becomes in-charge of NSUI 7 yrs after beating Congress student wing in JNU elections

Kumar joined Congress in 2021. He had defeated NSUI's candidate to become president of JNUSU in 2015-16, representing the All India Students’ Federation, a left-wing student body.

Born in Bihar's Begusarai district, Kanhaiya Kumar entered the world of student politics when he was studying at a college in Patna | Twitter | @kanhaiyakumar

New Delhi: Over one and a half years after joining the Congress party, former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar got his first major organisational role as the in-charge of the party’s student wing, the National Students Union of India (NSUI). 

On Thursday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge appointed Kanhaiya, a former president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), as All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of NSUI.

Currently, Neeraj Kunadan heads the NSUI — the Congress’ student wing — which was established in 1971

After leaving the Communist Party of India (CPI), Kanhaiya joined the Congress party in September 2021, in the presence of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Along with him, another prominent young leader Jignesh Mevani pledged support to the party. 

However, since then, Kanhaiya was languishing on the sidelines with the party not giving him any organisational role though he was drafted in the election campaigns in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha.

At the time, while joining the Congress party, Kanhaiya had said, “If the biggest and oldest party in the country is not saved, then that is an issue.” He added that the ideological war in the country can only be fought and led by the Congress party. “This is a historical responsibility I have on my shoulders which I cannot deny.”

Interestingly, Kanhaiya had defeated the NSUI presidential candidate to head the students’ union at Jawaharlal Nehru University from 2015 to 2016. Back then, the Bihar born student leader was affiliated with the All India Students’ Federation (AISF), a Left-wing student organisation.

Kanhaiya first rose to prominence when a sedition case was filed against him, allegedly for raising “anti-national” slogans at JNU in 2016. He was charged with the case along with fellow student leaders Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and several others.

The case brought the JNU student leader into much prominence, with many political parties and leaders coming out in his support. Subsequently, he joined the CPI in 2016 and remained with the party till 2021. During his stint with the CPI, he unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Bihar’s Begusarai.

(Edited by Tony Rai)