Maharashtra: JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar denied entry into Vidhan Bhavan ‘despite pass’

Kumar outside the Vidhan Bhavan Tuesday. Ganesh Shirsekar

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Kanhaiya Kumar Tuesday said he was not permitted entry into Vidhan Bhavan, the Maharashtra state legislature, despite having a valid entry pass. Sitting outside the main building of the Vidhan Bhavan, Kanhaiya told reporters, “I have all the necessary passes required to get entry in the legislative council’s visitors’ gallery. Despite this, I was not allowed entry. I am a citizen of this country and I have the right to observe debates in the legislature with a proper pass.”

Jayant Patil, MLC and a leader from the Peasants and Workers’ Party, had arranged for a pass for Kanhaiya to enter the Vidhan Bhavan premises. Patil said Kanhaiya wanted to witness the ongoing debate in the Upper House between the ruling BJP on one side and the opposition and the Shiv Sena on the other side over carving out a separate state of Vidarbha from Maharashtra.

“I was in the House when all this happened so I could not help him out at that moment. I don’t understand why the BJP is so afraid of Kanhaiya. The security guards allegedly told him that the pass had been cancelled,” Patil said.