New Delhi: For the first time, JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, now out on bail in a sedition case, met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, ahead of his visit to Hyderabad Central University on Wednesday.
Kanhaiya, who was accompanied by a team of JNU students and members of the All-India Students Federation, met Mr Gandhi at his residence.
The JNUSU president, who will meet dalit scholar Rohith Vemula’s friends at Hyderabad Central University on Wednesday, did not interact with the media after meeting Mr Gandhi. NSUI chief Roji M. John said it was a courtesy call to thank Mr Gandhi for supporting him in the ongoing JNU row.
Mr Gandhi later tweeted that he “met a delegation of student leaders from AISF and JNUSU president”. Mr Gandhi had visited the JNU campus on February 13, a day after Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in a sedition case.
NSUI chief Roji M. John said a JNU delegation headed by Kanhaiya met Mr Gandhi for a courtesy call.
He told reporters: “They thanked him for his continuous support ever since the issue started. Gandhi not only supported the students at JNU but also FTII and IIT Madras, where students have been protesting against the way the government is attacking institutions.”
The BJP was quick to criticise the meeting, with former minister Shahnawaz Hussain saying the country was watching how Mr Gandhi and the Congress were courting people like Kanhaiya, who allegedly allowed people to raise ‘anti-India’ slogans at JNU.
