<p>Patna: Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who is also in charge of the party’s student wing NSUI (National Students’ Union of India), is set to embark on a padayatra from Bihar’s Champaran district on March 16.</p>.<p>Titled the ‘Naukri do, palayan roko yatra’ (Give us jobs, stop migration march), it will begin at Bhitharwa Ashram in Champaran and conclude in Patna on April 14, covering around 100 Assembly constituencies.</p>.<p>The starting point of the yatra holds great historical significance, as Mahatma Gandhi launched his agitation against the British indigo policy from Champaran in 1917. </p>.<p>Kanhaiya, a firebrand student leader who joined the Congress in 2021 after a stint with the CPI, is set to embark on the yatra focusing on youth, jobs, migration and education. "The three-year graduation course in Bihar has turned into a Five-Year Plan, with no degree being completed in less than five years," Kanhaiya said. He also shared statistics showing that millions have migrated out of the state in search of employment.</p>.Government must regulate coaching institutes: Kanhaiya Kumar.<p>Kanhaiya is scheduled to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on March 12. He is likely to brief the party high command on his plans to rejuvenate the Bihar Congress, which has remained moribund since being ousted from power in 1990.</p>.<p>"It’s a good sign that the Congress has decided to hit the streets and champion the cause of youth and students. Only by raising people’s issues can a party, riding piggyback on the RJD for three decades, regain its footing and win voters’ confidence,” said veteran political commentator Ajay Kumar.</p>.<p>The effort to help the Congress stand on its own comes shortly after the appointment of Krishna Allavaru, who also oversees the Indian Youth Congress, as the in-charge of Bihar affairs.</p>.<p>Notably, neither Krishna nor Kanhaiya has paid a courtesy visit to RJD president Lalu Prasad so far. Lalu and his son Tejashwi are miffed with the Congress over its poor performance in the 2020 Assembly polls.</p>.<p>"Moreover, Lalu would never want a sharp and articulate leader like Kanhaiya to steal the spotlight in Bihar or pose a threat to his son’s path to the chief minister’s chair," the political expert added.</p>.<p>"It’s true that Kanhaiya’s march may unsettle Lalu and Tejashwi, who left no stone unturned to block Kanhaiya from contesting the Lok Sabha election from his hometown, Begusarai, on a Congress ticket during the 2024 parliamentary elections. Lalu’s biggest fear is Kanhaiya — if he helps the Congress bounce back, the minority vote bank could gradually shift from the RJD to the Congress. Neither Lalu nor Tejashwi would welcome a Congress revival, nor would the RJD want Kanhaiya to emerge as an alternative to Tejashwi,” said a senior Congress leader and former working president of the Bihar Congress.</p>
<p>Patna: Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who is also in charge of the party’s student wing NSUI (National Students’ Union of India), is set to embark on a padayatra from Bihar’s Champaran district on March 16.</p>.<p>Titled the ‘Naukri do, palayan roko yatra’ (Give us jobs, stop migration march), it will begin at Bhitharwa Ashram in Champaran and conclude in Patna on April 14, covering around 100 Assembly constituencies.</p>.<p>The starting point of the yatra holds great historical significance, as Mahatma Gandhi launched his agitation against the British indigo policy from Champaran in 1917. </p>.<p>Kanhaiya, a firebrand student leader who joined the Congress in 2021 after a stint with the CPI, is set to embark on the yatra focusing on youth, jobs, migration and education. "The three-year graduation course in Bihar has turned into a Five-Year Plan, with no degree being completed in less than five years," Kanhaiya said. He also shared statistics showing that millions have migrated out of the state in search of employment.</p>.Government must regulate coaching institutes: Kanhaiya Kumar.<p>Kanhaiya is scheduled to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on March 12. He is likely to brief the party high command on his plans to rejuvenate the Bihar Congress, which has remained moribund since being ousted from power in 1990.</p>.<p>"It’s a good sign that the Congress has decided to hit the streets and champion the cause of youth and students. Only by raising people’s issues can a party, riding piggyback on the RJD for three decades, regain its footing and win voters’ confidence,” said veteran political commentator Ajay Kumar.</p>.<p>The effort to help the Congress stand on its own comes shortly after the appointment of Krishna Allavaru, who also oversees the Indian Youth Congress, as the in-charge of Bihar affairs.</p>.<p>Notably, neither Krishna nor Kanhaiya has paid a courtesy visit to RJD president Lalu Prasad so far. Lalu and his son Tejashwi are miffed with the Congress over its poor performance in the 2020 Assembly polls.</p>.<p>"Moreover, Lalu would never want a sharp and articulate leader like Kanhaiya to steal the spotlight in Bihar or pose a threat to his son’s path to the chief minister’s chair," the political expert added.</p>.<p>"It’s true that Kanhaiya’s march may unsettle Lalu and Tejashwi, who left no stone unturned to block Kanhaiya from contesting the Lok Sabha election from his hometown, Begusarai, on a Congress ticket during the 2024 parliamentary elections. Lalu’s biggest fear is Kanhaiya — if he helps the Congress bounce back, the minority vote bank could gradually shift from the RJD to the Congress. Neither Lalu nor Tejashwi would welcome a Congress revival, nor would the RJD want Kanhaiya to emerge as an alternative to Tejashwi,” said a senior Congress leader and former working president of the Bihar Congress.</p>