Rahul Gandhi gives Kanhaiya Kumar an hour, support

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi assured JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar that he would reach every place where students faced harassment at the hands of the administration, putting Congress on course to a closer relationship with the Left bloc.

Kanhaiya, who shot into the limelight after he was slapped with sedition charge over the raising of alleged anti-national slogans in JNU, visited Rahul at his Tughlaq Road residence on Tuesday. Leading a delegation of All India Students Federation and JNUSU, Kanhaiya thanked Rahul for his support during the ongoing row at the university.

The "courtesy call" lasted for around an hour. With Rojy John, chief of Congress's student outfit NSUI, also present, the two sides discussed the need to make common cause on students' issues. The meeting is politically significant, reflecting that the Congress VP is not deterred by BJP's attempt to brand his visit to JNU on February 13 as support for "anti-nationals". There is concern in Congress that the young leader should be cautious in his approach to the tricky issue on which BJP hopes to polarise the voters. When thanked for his support, a participant quoted Rahul as saying, "Even in future, whenever students face harassment or discrimination from government or administration, I will be there."

The discussions covered the student unrest in JNU, Hyderabad Central University where Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula committed suicide, FTII and Allahabad University.