Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Congress likely to field Kanhaiya Kumar from a seat in Delhi, says report

The Congress party is likely to field former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Student’s Union president Kanhaiya Kumar from one of the three seats that it is contesting in the national capital. 

Kumar, who is presently in-charge of the (NSUI), had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections against Bhartiya Janata Party leader Giriraj Singh from Bihar’s Begusarai as a Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate. 

The Congress party is contesting elections to seven seats of the national capital in alliance with the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as part of Opposition INDIA bloc. Fielding Kumar from one of the seats in Delhi was discussed during a closed-door meeting of the grand old party held on April 10, according to a report in the Indian Express. 

The senior leadership of the party is backing the idea of fielding Kumar, the report said. But, it said, a final call will be taken during a meeting of the party’s scheduled on April 13. The meeting will also discuss candidates in Haryana, Punjab and some other states for Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

As per the seat-sharing deal with the AAP, Congress is contesting the North West, North East and Chandni Chowk seats in the national capital. AAP is contesting the East, South, West and New Delhi Lok Sabha seats.

While the AAP has fielded its candidates, the Congress is yet to release its names. The BJP has announced the names of all seven candidates in Delhi. The party changed all sitting members of parliament, barring Manoj Tiwari, the sitting North East Delhi BJP MP.

Voting for all seats of Delhi will be held on a single day, in Phase 6, on May 25. The BJP had won all seven seats of the national capital in 2019.