ABVP plans inroads in Kerala

NEWDELHI: Stepping up its offensiveagainstKerala’sLeftgovernment, the RSS is pushing its students’ wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), to the front lines of its campaign in the state.

TheABVPhascalledforarally in Thiruvananthapuram on November 11 to highlight the attacksontheright-wingcadrein the coastal state, allegedly by their left-wing counterparts.

Equating ‘Marxism with terrorism and anti-nationalism’ is a leitmotif of the rally, which the right-wing outfit hopes would be attendedbystudentsfromacross India, including those who do subscribe to the ABVP ideology.

ABVP is following in the footsteps of the BJP and the RSS by highlighting the alleged violence by Left cadres in the state and offering itself as an alternative to other student bodies.

In the last year’s state election, after the BJP won its first ever seat in Kerala assembly, attributedlargelytothegroundworkof theRSScadre,theABVPtoosaw a change in its fortune on college campuses; particularly in the northern part of Kannur, which has been a hotbed of left-right wing clashes.

After a decade of no-show, the ABVPwon11ofthe16seatsinthe Kannur University union polls.

Despite these electoral gains, the organisation does not have the same following has left-wing student bodies do, which is perhaps a reason why the ABVP is banking on students from other states to lend support to its show of strength.

“Our membership is growing...we will soon have over one lakhmembersinthestate.Weare fighting for the ‘pride of Kerala’ and even those students who were not affiliated to any faction are willing to join us,” said Ashwin Radhakrishnan, the joint organisingsecretaryoftheABVP in Kerala.