NEW DELHI/ AHMEDABAD: Young Dalit leader and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani on Saturday announced that he along with former JNU Students’ Union leader
Kanhaiya Kumar will join
Congress on Tuesday. The day of their induction — September 28 — is also the birth anniversary of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
Meanwhile, Congress has launched Jawahar Bal Manch, a new outfit targeted at children between the age of 7 to 17 years, to instil in them constitutional values to counter a similar organisation launched by RSS.
GV Hari has been appointed as its chairman
The entry of Mevani and Kumar will continue the trend in Congress of inducting fresh blood in a bid to bolster its strength amid steady desertions by senior members.
Mevani has been working in tandem with Congress and his induction comes with an eye on Gujarat elections next year. Congress is working on an overhaul of the Gujarat unit, and young Patidar leader and working President of the state Congress Hardik Patel is a frontrunner for the post of state chief.
Kanhaiya Kumar is likely to play a role in Bihar Congress. He is a member of CPI but has been unhappy with the Left outfit while being eager to play a bigger role in state politics.
There has been a buzz that an internal split among the key national leaders of CPI over promoting Kanhaiyya Kumar at the national level may have triggered his imminent exit from the party.