Congress General Secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala officially welcomed CPI leader and former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar who joined the Congress party in Delhi on Tuesday.
Gujarat Dalit leader and independent MLA from Gujarat Jignesh Mevani, due to technical reasons did not join the Congress party. However, he extended his support to the party.
This development comes just days before the Assembly elections that are scheduled to be held next year in seven states namely Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The news of these two leaders joining the party came in today morning after they met in the presence of party leader Rahul Gandhi.
On joining the party, Kumar said, "I am joining Congress because it's not just a party, it's an idea. It's a country's oldest and most democratic party, and I am emphasising on 'democratic'...Not just me many think that country can't survive without Congress..."
"Congress party is like a big ship, if it's saved, I believe many people's aspirations, Mahatma Gandhi's oneness, Bhagat Singh's courage & BR Ambedkar's idea of equality will be protected too. This is why I have joined it...", the former CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar said.
Mevani said, "The country is going through an unprecedented crisis. I support this oldest party not as a politician but as an Indian. I am here to safeguard the idea of India. However, due to technical reasons, as I'm an independent MLA, I have not joined the party."
( With inputs from ANI )
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