Kanhaiya Kumar

Kanhaiya Kumar is an Indian political activist who served as the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union and leader of the All India Students Federation (AISF).

He served as National Executive Council member of Communist Party of India.

He joined Indian National Congress on 28 September 2021.

Kanhaiya Kumar was born in January 1987, and brought up in the village of Bihat (near Barauni) in Begusarai district, Bihar.

The village is part of the Teghra constituency, known to be a stronghold of the CPI.

Kumar's father is Jaishankar Singh.

His mother, Meena Devi is an Anganwadi worker.

He has an elder brother, Manikant, who works as a supervisor with a company in Assam.

His family members have traditionally been supporters of the CPI.

Kanhaiya Kumar studied till Class VI at Madhya Vidyalaya, Masnadpur, before joining R. K. C. High School in Barauni.

During his school days, Kumar took part in several plays and activities organized by IPTA (Indian People's Theatre Association), a left-leaning cultural group going back to the days of India's freedom struggle.

He cleared his Class X board exams in 2002 with a first division.

After school, Kumar joined the Ram Ratan Singh College at Mokama, taking up science in Class XI-XII.

He then graduated with a degree in geography from the College of Commerce, Arts and Science, Patna in 2007, earning a "first-class".

While at the Patna College of Commerce, Kumar began getting involved in student politics.

He joined the AISF, and a year later was selected as a delegate at its conference in Patna.

After completing his post graduation with an MA in sociology from Nalanda Open University in Patna, again securing a first class, he moved to Delhi and after ranking first in the entrance exam in 2011, joined Jawaharlal Nehru University where he pursued a PhD in African studies at the School of International Studies.

In September 2015, Kumar became president of the JNU students' union, representing the AISF.

In March 2016, Kumar stated in an interview, "the first inspiration who made me want to join politics was Bhagat Singh. Then the path continued into Ambedkar, Gandhi and Marx, and also to Birsa Munda and Jyotirao Phule...."

Kumar's autobiography, Bihar to Tihar: My Political Journey was published in October 2016.

The book describes his life from his childhood days to his political involvement in Delhi.

In February 2016, Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested by the Delhi Police over the charges of sedition in an event at the JNU campus.

It was organised by JNU students to commemorate the second anniversary of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Kumar denied shouting any slogans against integrity of the country.

Kumar's arrest Drew Sharp reactions from opposition parties, teachers, students and academics.

Students at JNU went on strike to protest his arrest.

Kumar was assaulted on multiple occasions when brought to the Patiala House court for hearings regarding the matter.

A Supreme Court-appointed panel later confirmed that the policemen present at the Court were responsible for the security lapses.

On 2 March 2016, Kumar was granted interim bail for 6 months by the Delhi High Court, conditional on an undertaking that he would not "participate in any anti-national activity."

Justice Pratibha Rani noted that there were no recordings of Kumar participating in anti-national slogans.

A separate magisterial investigation appointed by the Delhi Government concluded that it did not find any evidence of Kumar participating in anti-national slogans.

Following his release from jail, Kumar faced death threats.

A leader of the BJP's youth wing offered ₹5 lakh as a reward to anyone who cut off Kumar's tongue.

On 29 April 2018, he was elected to the party national council of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

He completed his PhD in February 2019, titled ''The Process of Decolonisation and Social Transformation in South Africa, 1994–2015.

Later in 2019, he was inducted into CPI national executive council.

Kumar contested from Begusarai on Communist Party of India's ticket for the 2019 Indian general election.

He lost the election, polling a total of 269,976 votes and 22.03% of vote share.

He secured a distant second position after losing to Giriraj Singh of Bharatiya Janata Party by 422,217 votes.

About his defeat, he told Aaj Tak in an interview, "I didn't have anything directly to lose in these elections. I got support from the people for fighting against a big, rich and influential machinery and this is a message from democracy that a son of an Anganwadi worker can contest elections."