Nitish Kumar (centre) with the other Left Unity candidates Munteha Fatima (right), and Manisha (left) who emerged victorious in the recent JNUSU polls. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Nitish Kumar’s political journey from studying in a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated school in his village in Bihar to becoming the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) reflects a gradual shift in world view shaped by personal experience and exposure to new ideas.
Hailing from an OBC community in Araria district, Mr. Kumar studied at a Saraswati Shishu Mandir, an institution associated with the RSS, until Class 10.
“I would observe whatever was happening in the RSS school. At the time, I did not understand RSS’s overarching ideology; the social structure, the caste structure, or how they would preach via prayers. I understood a lot of it much later,” he recalled.
Mr. Kumar completed Class 11 and 12 from a college in a nearby district, following which he went to Banaras Hindu University (BHU). It was during his time at BHU that the ideological undercurrents he experienced in school began to make sense.
“At BHU, everything I saw at Shishu Mandir started to unfold. I was exposed to literature about the BJP and RSS. Once I realised what the RSS stood for, I began looking for an alternative. I understood the Left ideology when I started reading theory, learning about socialist redistribution,” he said.
After BHU, Mr. Kumar came to Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he is now pursuing a PhD. During the pandemic, he joined the All India Students’ Association (AISA) in 2021. Before formally joining the organisation, he had participated in several student movements.
His family has humble roots — his mother is a homemaker and his father a farmer. “Like any middle-class family, they would earlier tell me to concentrate on my studies instead. But since I have become the [JNUSU] president, apprehensions have started to fade away,” he noted.
In the recently concluded JNUSU polls, three out of four central panel posts — including Mr. Kumar’s — were secured by Left Unity candidates. The fourth went to Vaibhav Meena of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
“We have ideological differences with the ABVP, but we hope to work together on campus issues,” Mr. Kumar said.
The top priorities for the new student leaders include restoring the university’s internal entrance exam, reinstating the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment, improving infrastructure, and addressing funding cuts.
Published – May 01, 2025 01:07 am IST
