Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar with Bihar Congress In-charge Krishna Allavaru during a press conference, in Patna, Monday, March 10, 2025.
Credit: PTI Photo
Patna: Led by its young leader Kanhaiya Kumar, the Congress on Sunday started a padayatra from Bihar’s West Champaran district to regain the lost ground in a state where it once ruled for four decades.
The ‘Palayan roko, Naukri do (Stop migration, give jobs)' march began at Bhitiharwa Ashram and is set to conclude in Patna on April 15.
This was the very place in Champaran where Mahatma Gandhi, in 1917, initiated the Champaran Satyagraha — also known as the Indigo movement — against the British indigo policy, earning national recognition.
Accompanied by senior party leader Krishna Allavaru, recently appointed as the in-charge of Congress’ Bihar affairs, Kanhaiya said that this is a state “where your love letter to your beloved won’t be leaked, but the question papers of all the examinations are usually leaked in the Nitish regime. This results in delays in appointments, frustrating the youth, who consequently migrate to other states in search of jobs.”
Addressing the crowd, the former JNU president questioned the lack of debate, both nationally and in Bihar, on the issue of unemployment.
Kanhaiya, who left the CPI to join the Congress in 2021, has reportedly been tasked by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with revitalising the party in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled for October. So far, the Congress has relied on the RJD, managing to win only a few seats. In the 2020 Assembly elections, it secured 19 seats out of the 70 constituencies it contested.
However, the party high command has stressed the need for the Congress to establish its own footing before deciding whether to enter into a respectable alliance with the RJD or contest independently. Against this backdrop, Kanhaiya, one of the party's most skilled orators, has been tasked with launching a march from Champaran.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi may join Kanhaiya during the padayatra.