Leftist student union leader Neha Bora is now emerging as a big face. His name is at the forefront of the protest from NEET exam to the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar. There is talk that perhaps she may join Congress. The leftist student organization which always opened a front against the policies of the Congress, many famous student leaders from the same organization later joined the Congress and took over its political and electoral leadership.
Well, amid these speculations, we cannot deny that there have been many leaders who shone with leftist ideology and later joined Congress. Kanhaiya Kumar is the biggest name among them. He joined the Congress in September 2021 and has been appointed in-charge of the National Students Union (AISC). Let us understand how was the political journey of the student leaders who emerged from the Left and where are they today.
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Made a place in the strategic team of Congress
Sandeep Singh- Sandeep Singh, coming from Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, reached JNU via Allahabad University. He was elected President of JNU Students Union (JNUSU) in 2007–08. Later he joined Congress. He played an important role in preparing Rahul Gandhi's speech and election strategy during the 2019 general elections. Later he worked with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's team in UP. Currently he sees his role as a political advisor and researcher.
Mohit Kumar Pandey- Mohit, who was the JNU Students Union President in the year 2016–17, also joined Congress after AISA politics. He took charge of the social media and digital campaign of Uttar Pradesh Congress. His main role was in working for the party and running campaigns on social media.
Akbar Chaudhary- Akbar Chaudhary, who was the JNU Students Union President in 2013–14, took up election management as his career after student politics. He also joined the election team of Prashant Kishore. Later he started his own political consultancy company named 'Matrix Intelligence'. His company worked on preparing the strategy for Congress in the assembly elections of Himachal Pradesh (2022) and Chhattisgarh (2023).
Sudhanshu Bajpayee and Anil Yadav- Sudhanshu Bajpayee, former UP president of AISA, had joined Congress in Lucknow in September 2018. At the same time, former student leader of Allahabad University, Anil Yadav also joined Congress in 2018. Anil Yadav later joined Priyanka Gandhi's team and started taking charge of research.
Other leaders associated with the left
Around 2018, when Congress included many young faces in the party, apart from AISA, workers of other leftist groups also came together.
- Shahnawaz Alam- Shahnawaz, who was associated with AISA in Allahabad University, later joined Congress and was active on issues related to minority rights.
- Sadaf Zafar- Sadaf Zafar, associated with social and leftist movements, joined Congress in 2018. She remained in the headlines during anti-CAA protests. The party also made him its candidate from Lucknow Central in the 2022 UP elections.
- Raghunandan Yadav and Sarita Patel- Former AISA national executive member Raghunandan Yadav and CPI(ML)-affiliated Sarita Patel also joined the Congress in 2018.
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Kanhaiya Kumar may be associated with Congress but in his early days he was directly associated with the Left. He contested the 2019 general elections as a Communist Party of India candidate from Begusarai, Bihar. He lost the election against Giriraj Singh. After this he is working as the President of Congress Student Union and working for the party.
The journey of these young leaders who have emerged from the leftist party can be seen mainly in three major paths. These people may not be the direct face of the party but worked behind the scenes for the party. Leaders like Sandeep Singh and Mohit Pandey made their mark in speech and digital media. Faces like Akbar Chaudhary made careers out of election management through mainstream election consultancy companies.