Kumar, who is a native of Varanasi and held the post of students' union president in Banaras Hindu University and in JNU, is up against Congress's sitting MP JP Agarwal and BJP's Manoj Tiwari.
Kumar, who had won the JNU elections in 1972 defeating current CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat, says water scarcity, erratic electricity supply, poor healthcare facilities and educational infrastructure are some of the major issues facing the North-east Delhi constituency.
Exuding confidence about his victory, Kumar says if elected, he will raise people's issues inside and outside the Parliament.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Agarwal had won the polls by a huge margin of over 2 lakh votes. The total number of voters in the constituency is over 18 lakh.
Kumar says he has been actively associated with the area since 1996 on issues of youth and gender justice. He had begun his political journey in 1964 and was involved in Ram Manohar Lohia's socialist movement.