“‘400 Paar’ Claim By BJP Raises Doubts About Democratic Process, EVMs”

Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar said on Saturday that the BJP’s claim that it will win more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls has created doubts among people about the country’s democratic process and electronic voting machines (EVMs).

He added that to protect the Constitution, which the BJP wants to change in order to snatch the fundamental rights of the people, there is a need to transform the 2024 Lok Sabha polls into a mass movement.

Kumar said this while addressing a rally in the Bhadaura village in Chhattisgarh for his party’s Bilaspur Lok Sabha candidate Devendra Yadav.

Kumar claimed, “How does he (PM Narendra Modi) know his party will get 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections? Is he an astrologer? Such acts raise doubts about the democratic process.” He added that he had met several people during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra who said they had voted for the Congress but saw the “lotus bloom in their areas”.

Kumar added, “People are asking whether the EVM machine is fine or not. They are questioning the credibility of the EVMs.”

He said on one hand, the BJP is seeking votes and on the other, it proclaims it will win more than 400 seats. He claimed, “It seems as if they are not asking for votes but threatening us (the general public). It is the arrogance of power and an insult to the country’s citizens.”

Without taking names, Kumar said that the way General Dyer was thrown out by freedom fighters, “general kayar (coward) can also be driven out”. Kumar was referring to brigadier-general Reginald Dyer, who order his troops to open fire upon an unarmed gathering at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on 13 April 1919. The action, which resulted in the deaths of several hundred people, sent shockwaves across the world.

Kanhaiya Kumar is a political activist who served as the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union and leader of the All India Students Federation (AISF). He served as National Executive Council member of the Communist Party of India. He joined Indian National Congress on 28 September 2021.

Kanhaiya Kumar was born in January 1987, and brought up in the village of Bihat (near Barauni) in Begusarai district, Bihar. The village is part of the Teghra constituency, known to be a stronghold of the CPI. Kumar’s father is Jaishankar Singh. His mother, Meena Devi is an Anganwadi worker. He has an elder brother, Manikant, who works as a supervisor with a company in Assam. His family members have traditionally been supporters of the CPI.

Kanhaiya Kumar studied till Class VI at Madhya Vidyalaya, Masnadpur, before joining R. K. C. High School in Barauni. During his school days, Kumar took part in several plays and activities organized by IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association), a left-leaning cultural group going back to the days of India’s freedom struggle. He cleared his Class X board exams in 2002 with a first division. After school, Kumar joined the Ram Ratan Singh College at Mokama, taking up science in Class XI-XII. He then graduated with a degree in geography from the College of Commerce, Arts and Science, Patna in 2007, earning a “first-class”.

While at the Patna College of Commerce, Kumar began getting involved in student politics. He joined the AISF, and a year later, was selected as a delegate at its conference in Patna. After completing his post graduation with an MA in sociology from Nalanda Open University in Patna, again securing a first class, he moved to Delhi and after ranking first in the entrance exam in 2011, joined Jawaharlal Nehru University where he pursued a PhD in African studies at the School of International Studies. He completed his PhD in February 2019, titled The Process of Decolonisation and Social Transformation in South Africa, 1994–2015.