*Kanhaiya: The making of a new Anna Hazare?*
 *By Arati R. Jerath*
*IS JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar of the AISF the new Anna Hazare? By throwing Kanhaiya into jail on a trumped up charge of sedition, the Modi government may have made the same mistake the Manmohan Singh government committed with Anna and his anti-corruption stir. It has turned Kanhaiya into a national hero overnight and he could prove to be a thorn in its side in the coming months, much like Anna was for the UPA.*
*Kanhaiya’s electrifying speech at JNU after being released from prison on bail reaffirmed his potential to become a future leader. More importantly, it sent shivers down the government’s spine with union ministers and BJP leaders reacting to Kanhaiya in a most unbecoming manner.*
*Look at the heavyweights who lined up to take pot shots at this young student leader: Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, V.K. Singh, Amit Shah, to name a few. Honestly, had the Modi government and the BJP ignored him,
 Kanhaiya may have just been a one day story. Instead, the government is making sure he stays in the news.*
*Anna had a sharp political mind in Arvind Kejriwal plotting his every move. Kejriwal was always one step ahead of the Manmohan Singh government and outsmarted it every time. We’ll have to wait and see whether Kanhaiya
 can do the same to the Modi government.*
*Anna’s appeal lay in his non-partisan credentials. Neither he nor Kejriwal attached themselves to any mainstream political party. In fact, they flaunted their apolitical credentials like a badge of honour.*
*The Left parties -- viz the CPI and CPI(M) are trying to appropriate JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar.*
*The CPI is mulling plans to cart Kanhaiya to campuses around the country while the CPI(M) is talking of party discipline to intimidate Kanhaiya into campaigning for the Left in West Bengal and Kerala. That would be the
 surest way of killing off the student leader’s appeal.*
*Kanhaiya himself seems to be pretty shrewd. In all his interviews, he has steadfastly maintained that he is just a student leader, not a neta. As long as he keeps his head, doesn’t get swayed by the celebrity status he
 has acquired and sticks to mobilizing students across India, he has the potential to be a game changer. That is precisely what the BJP fears.*
*Winds of change for CPI ( M)*
*THE winds of change are sweeping through the Left Parties. The CPI (M) registered a first with the election of a Dalit student leader, Vikram Singh, as national general secretary of its student’s wing, SFI.*
*The historic development has gone unnoticed in most of the media, but it has sent ripples through the party. There are two unique things about the new general secretary. First is his caste. Previous holders of this
 important post have been from the upper castes, like most CPI (M) leaders. Vikram Singh is a Dalit and a PhD to boot. He has a doctorate in zoology.*
*The second unique thing about him is that he is from Himachal Pradesh. Most leaderships posts in the CPI (M) and its affiliates have historically gone to members from West Bengal or Kerala, the two Left bastions. This is the first time that someone from a third state, that too a state as small
 as Himachal, has made it to a top leadership position…………*
*Extract from: An article, ‘Kanhaiya: The making of a new Anna Hazare?’*
*http://thewire.in/2016/03/04/english-translation-kanhaiya-kumars-electrifying-speech-at-jnu-23820/
 <http://thewire.in/2016/03/04/english-translation-kanhaiya-kumars-electrifying-speech-at-jnu-23820/>*
*Sender:*
*Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vicharr Manch*
*https://www.facebook.com/balbir.singh.355
 <https://www.facebook.com/balbir.singh.355>*