‘I'm not in the race for Bihar CM, nor will I lead any electoral front'

The AAP government’s recent nod to Delhi Police to go ahead with the prosecution of Kanhaiya Kumar in a 2016 sedition case has triggered a debate, bringing the youth leader back into the spotlight. The decision came only a day after the 33-year-old former president of the JNU students’ union addressed a big rally in Patna as part of his statewide campaign against CAA-NRC-NPR in poll-bound Bihar. In an exclusive interview with Giridhar Jha, Kanhaiya talks about the sedition case, his defeat from Begusarai in last year’s general elections, and whether he is ready to head an alternative front ahead of the next assembly polls in his home state. Excerpts:

- Giridhar Jha

The Delhi government recently gave its sanction to the police in the sedition case against you. Did you suspect any political motive behind it?

It has been a political case from the very beginning. I had been waiting for a long time for the case to be either rejected or accepted so that the trial is held in a court of law, not on television. I thanked the Arvind Kejriwal government as its decision would ensure a trial in accordance with the laws of the land.

Did it not come as a surprise? The sanction, after all, had come from an AAP government, not a BJP government.