Kanhaiya Kumar, Jignesh Mevani expected to join Congress next week: Report

CPI leader and former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar and Gujarat Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani are likely to join the Congress next week, party sources said.

Kumar had joined the Communist Party of India (CPI) ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election and had unsuccessfully contested from Begusarai in Bihar against Giriraj Singh of the BJP.

Sources close to Kumar said that he is likely to join the Congress on September 28 in New Delhi.

Mevani is likely to join the Congress along with him on the same day, sources said.

Mevani, who is currently a legislator in Gujarat and represents the Vadgam constituency, is the convener of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM).

He is a lawyer-activist and a former journalist. Mevani's entry into the Congress comes at a time when it is wooing the scheduled castes community after making one amongst them the chief minister of Punjab.

Charanjit Singh Channi succeeded Amarinder Singh as chief minister of Punjab, a step considered bold by the party in wooing back the scheduled castes, traditionally considered the vote bank of the Congress.