When questioned about meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi in a recent interview with a new YouTube channel, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar stated that one should consider his age when asking such questions. When asked why, Kanhaiya maintained that his wishes are similar to those of any other young person in the country.
The interview was posted on the YouTube channel ‘Unfiltered with Samdish’ on Friday (January 7). In the 57-minute film, Kanhaiya is questioned about his involvement with the Congress party and whether he still considers himself a communist.
From the long video, a 30-second clip has gone viral over the internet. People are sharing it on Twitter and other social media platforms. Twitter user Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) tweeted the video saying “Kanhaiya when asked about Sonia Gandhi. Imagine the outrage had someone from RW said something like this.”
Kanhaiya when asked about Sonia Gandhi.
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) January 8, 2022
Imagine the outrage had someone from RW said something like this 🤮 pic.twitter.com/RiiPimdg2N
It can be seen in the video that when asked about his “Khwaahish” (Desire) of meeting Sonia Gandhi, he says “Iss tarah ke sawal aap humari umar dekh ke puchiye” (You must ask such questions considering my age). “Humari khwaahish bhi utni hi jawan hai jitni ek ordinary naujawan ki iss desh mein hai” (My desire is as young as that of an ordinary youth in this country) he added.
While the interviewer had asked Kanhaiya Kumar about meeting Sonia Gandhi as the chief of his party, he certainly had other ideas and took the question differently. He replied that he will meet people only if they are in his age group, and therefore he does not have a desire to meet Sonia Gandhi.
The Congress Love of Kanhaiya Kumar
Former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar joined the Congress party in September 2021, along with Independent MLA from Gujarat and Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani. The import of these two figures was an attempt to co-opt two anti-BJP faces amid the G-23’s admonition that the Congress has to become more relevant. While Mevani became the face of Gujarat’s Dalit demonstrations in the aftermath of the Una flogging event, Kanhaiya earned notoriety following the anti-national sloganeering incident at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Kanhaiya and Mevani are unlikely to strengthen the party, and if Rahul Gandhi believes they would help resuscitate the Congress party’s prospects, he is gravely incorrect.
Kanhaiya Kumar was defeated decisively by the BJP’s Giriraj Singh in Begusarai during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and Mevani was elected to the Gujarat Assembly only from a constituency thought to be a Congress bastion. Outside of Twitter, their political tenacity is at test.
