“What Did Modiji Do In UPI?”: Kanhaiya Kumar To India Today

Kanhaiya Kumar, the Congress candidate from North East Delhi lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the “Jab We Met” segment on India Today.

The segment, hosted by Rahul Kanwal, aired on India Today on 18^th May 2024. In the segment Rahul Kanwal followed Kanhaiya Kumar on his campaign in the North Delhi Constituency where he is standing against the incumbent Manoj Tiwari from Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). 

In the segment, Rahul and Kanhaiya visited a street food vendor. While interacting with him, Rahul pointed out that he is using UPI, a part of Digital India initiative by Narendra Modi. Upon hearing this Kanhaiya Kumar asked the India Today anchor, “What did Modiji do in UPI?” Rohit Kanwal replied that he made the infrastructure for UPI. Kanhaiya Kumar responded by asking if Congress had not bought Aadhar Card, Direct Cash Transfer or the Computer Revolution UPI would not have existed. 

Kanhaiya said, “If your father builds one storey of the house and you build one storey and you claim you built the entire thing, will that work? There is an importance of the foundation too, right?”

Kanhaiya Kumar has emerged as a strong youth leader since his days of student activism in Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU). Despite repeated attacks on him and even a stint in Tihar Jail, he still has a popular following with the youth. He initially was a member of the Communist Party of India before joining the Indian National Congress in 2021.

He is contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections from North Delhi Constituency against Manoj Tiwari of the BJP who has held the seat for the last 2 elections. The voting in the constituency will take place during Phase 6 of the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections on May 25^th. The results will be announced on June 4^th.

-Namit Pandey