Chanting “hathi Ghodha paalki, jai kanhaiya lal ki”, supporters of INDIA Bloc brought former JNU student leader and Congress candidate for the North East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, Kanhaiya Kumar on their shoulders to file his nomination on Monday while fluttering party flags of AAP, Congress and CPI (M) on Monday morning to present a joint Opposition against BJP in the national Capital. 

Kanhaiya filed his nomination at the District Magistrate's office in Nand Nagri in the presence of former Delhi minister Dr Narendra Nath, Delhi Environment Minister and AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai and legal advisor KC Mittal.

Prior to filing his nomination, he shared a series of photos on social media, depicting him alongside leaders from diverse religious backgrounds. One image captured him taking part in a ‘hawan’ and Sarvdharam prayers.  “Today, before filing my nomination, Gurus of all religions presented me with the Preamble of the Constitution and prayed for me and blessed me. This is our India. This is our Constitution. ‘Sarva Dharma Sam Bhaav’. I will sacrifice my life to protect this India and its Constitution,” he said on X.  After filing his nomination, he held a road show as supporters from various political factions, including AAP, Congress, and CPIM, gathered in droves to show their unwavering support for Kumar's candidacy.

Police forces were deployed at the procession to avoid any mishap. The student leader turned politician held a unique e-rickshaw rally where he stood in the vehicle while carrying the preamble of the constitution along with him. Scores of party workers of both AAP and Congress chanted slogans like “Congress zindabad”, “Kanhaiya zindabad”, “India jeetega” and “Rahul Gandhi zindabad” in the rally.

A supporter Sandeep Mishra also blew conch while carrying a poster that stated “kaurav vs Kanhaiya, voto ka Mahabharat”. Supporters and party workers gathered in large numbers, with a sizable supporter of the Muslim population, in the area outside the Congress office in the constituency. Many workers sported their party scarfs while also wearing t-shirts with Kanhaiya’s face on it.

Monday was the last day to file nominations for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, which votes on May 25. Twenty-four people have filed papers in Northeast Delhi, the highest in the city so far. BJP has Manoj Tiwari, Bhojpuri singer and its two-term MP as its candidate once again from here. It is a large constituency with many migrants from UP and Bihar.

Kanhaiya contested unsuccessfully from the Begusarai seat in Bihar in 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the CPI party. Talking to the CPI (M) workers, who weren’t seen in the procession of either AAP or Congress, said that they are campaigning for the INDIA alliance candidate by going door-to-door. The AAP workers, at the rally, claimed that even at grassroot level supporters of their party will vote to bring the INDIA alliance.

Pictures of jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were also carried by the AAP workers in the rally while chanting ‘Arvind Kejriwal zindabad’ and ‘Aam Aadmi Party Zindabad’. Small children were also part of the procession and when asked for the reason to be enthusiastically fluttering Congress flags, of height more than theirs, they replied innocently, “Kanhaiya will do what Modi couldn’t. I have met him and he is very nice.”

Further, the North east Delhi seat candidate took to X (formerly Twitter) following filing his nomination and said, “Today I filed my nomination as North East Delhi Lok Sabha candidate of INDIA Alliance. During this, Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi State President Gopal Rai, MLA Sanjeev Jha, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Devendra Yadav, former Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Anil Chaudhary and former MLA Narendra Nath were present. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the friends who came in thousands for the nomination rally. Your support and blessings are our real strength. On this basis we will fight and win against every negative force to make North East Delhi better.”

Kanhaiya had obtained a graduate degree in Geography, and then went on to obtain a doctorate in African Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2019. His autobiography, Bihar to Tihar: My Political Journey, was published in October 2016.