Campus politics hots up as parties keep eye on 2019

NEW DELHI: In about two weeks, Delhi will be the staging ground for two student union elections that appear to have reached fever pitch, before the country heads into a poll season that culminates in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Student leaders in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Delhi University (DU) are busy strategising ahead of the prestige battles for control of the unions. New alliances are being formed, and issues beyond campus politics, such as celebrating India’s many cultures, are finding a place in manifestos.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, generated buzz at JNU on Tuesday by inviting to the campus chief ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, who stressed the Narendra Modi government’s efforts for the development of India’s northeastern states. The ABVP said the event had nothing to do with the polls slated for September 14, but rivals called it a “blatant display of power”.

The Students Federation of India invited Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury last week. Congress’s P Chidambaram visited the campus for an event by the party’s student wing, National Students’ Union of India.

The battle lines have been drawn for the DU polls, slated for September 12, as well. The Aam Aadmi Party’s Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti has formed an alliance with the Leftbacked All India Students Association.