Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani and (CPI) leader Kanhaiya Kumar will join the Congress party today in presence of Rahul Gandhi according to report by news agency ANI. Jignesh Mevani is an independent MLA from Vadgam constituency in Gujarat and convener of Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM). In the 2017 Gujarat Assembly election, the Congress party did not field its candidate against Mevani in the Vadgam constituency.

       According to people with knowledge of the matter both the leaders will join Congress at the party headquarters today evening in New Delhi.

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       Kanhaiya Kumar is a former president of JNU and Jignesh Mevani belongs to the Dalit community. Congress general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal and Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel are also likely to be present when Kumar and Mevani join the Congress.

       Before joining the Congress, Kumar and Mevani are likely to go to Shaheedi Park at ITO in Delhi to garland the statue of Bhagat Singh, a day after the 114th birth anniversary of the freedom fighter.

       Rahul Gandhi is likely to be present with them at ITO. Youth Congress workers will be present in "large numbers" at the venue.

       There is speculation that Congress could give Kumar a role in Bihar state Congress and Mevani in Gujarat, which will go for polls by the end of next year.

       The joining is taking place after some prominent Congress leaders left the party in recent months. While former Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev has joined the Trinamool Congres, former union minister Jitin Prasada is now in BJP. Veteran Goa Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro resigned from the party on Monday.

       The resignation of youth leaders had caused some disquiet in the party and sections of the party feel that the induction of Kumar and Mevani will help send a positive message to the party rank and file.

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       Meanwhile, HT in a report has said that there is unease in CPI after reports of Kanhaiya Kumar joining the Congress.

       CPI leaders told HT that last Monday, party general secretary D Raja had asked Kanhaiya Kumar to address a press conference to “refute" the rumours. But on Tuesday, while his party colleagues waited patiently at Ajoy Bhavan, the CPI headquarters in Delhi, “Kumar’s phone and messages went unanswered", said a senior leader on condition of anonymity.Kumar is a member of CPI national executive, a top decision-making body of the party.

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