Patna, April 28: A grand welcome awaits Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar when he arrives here on a two-day visit on Saturday.
This will be Kanhaiya's first visit to his native state since his release from Tihar jail on March 3 after three weeks in jail on sedition charges. He hails from Bihat village in Begusarai district.
Kanhaiya, flavour of the season for student bodies, social activists and even politicians (excluding the BJP), will be in Patna on April 30 and May 1. He will address students, academicians and people from the literary field who stood by him during his incarceration, at a function at SK Memorial Hall on Sunday.
The function is being organised by All India Students' Federation (AISF) and the All India Youth Federation (AIYF) both Left-wing units. Kanhaiya is an AISF member.
He will also meet chief minister Nitish Kumar, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and other non-BJP leaders who backed him. "The JNUSU president will try to meet all those leaders who stood in support of him, including the chief minister, RJD chief Lalu, Congress and Left party leaders," AISF state secretary Sushil Kumar said.
The chief minister's secretariat or RJD sources could not confirm any scheduled meeting between Kanhaiya and the leaders.
After arriving in Patna on Saturday, Kanhaiya will pay floral tributes to statues of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Jayaprakash Narayan and others.
Banners and posters welcoming Kanhaiya are coming up in different areas of Patna. One on Fraser Road has a picture of Kanhaiya and Rohith Vemula, the Dalit research scholar from Hyderabad Central University whose suicide after his expulsion rocked the country, with " Hume chahiye azaadi (We want freedom)" written in between (See picture).
Left wing student bodies are even coming up with graffiti on college and university walls to make Kanhaiya's visit a success.
Today, two groups of students began canvassing at different colleges.
The AISF wants 3,000 students to attend the function at SK Memorial Hall.
The AISF will also submit a memorandum to the director-general of police (DGP) and home secretary, seeking security for the event. The students' body fears the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (right wing students' union) will create a ruckus.
But ABVP state joint secretary Ashish Sinha said: "We are in no mood to give attention to Kanhaiya's event. ABVP cadres and leaders will be busy attending the state convention in Gaya from April 28 to May 1."
Given his busy schedule, it is unlikely Kanhaiya will visit his native village Bihat to meet his parents despite the fact that his father Jai Shankar Singh is ill. Kanhaiya's uncle Rajendra Singh told The Telegraph: "We know Kanhaiya is coming to Patna, but it is unlikely he will come to Begusarai to meet his parents because of his busy schedule."
Sources said Kanhaiya, on an indefinite hunger strike demanding a rollback of the punishment meted out to him by the JNU authorities, has shortened his visit as he has to attend a national students' convention on May 5. Kanhaiya's mother Meena Devi had met Kanhaiya last month after his release from jail.
