Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Uttar Pradesh are now seeking to strengthen their position in the state by reaching out to campus politics.
Students’ union elections in all major universities and colleges in the state are scheduled to be held in September after a gap of almost ten year (Ms Mayawati, as chief minister, had banned student unions in 2007) and the Opposition sees this as an opportunity to win back the youth voters.
The Opposition parties are now trying to capitalise on the recent arrest of 14 students who had shown black flags to chief minister Yogi Adityanath when he visited the Lucknow University on June 7.
The Samajwadi Party, which is known for its strong hold in campus politics, has already taken the initiative and party spokesman and former minister Rajendra Chaudhary visited the Lucknow jail to meet the accused students who have also been denmied bail.
Talking to this correspondent after meeting the students, he said, “Showing black flags as a matter of protest is the democratic right of every citizen. Getting these students arrested and then ensuring that they do not get bail will jeopardise their entire career. The youth will not crumble against such actions and the state government should withdraw the cases against them.”
The Samajwadi frontal units have been asked to prepare for an agitation if the cases are not withdrawn and the student are not released.
Congress legislature party leader Ajay Kumar Singh Lallu also met the jailed students and announced his party’s support to them.
“The government is using its entire government machinery to crush the voices of their opponents and recent action on these students is a glaring example of this,” he said.
The Congress leaders, who also staged a dharna to express solidarity with the students, said that the students were brutally cane –charged and treated like criminals.
“They were simply trying to draw the chief minister’s attention to irregularities on the campus and also to some of their demands. Is this an offence”, he asked.
The Congress has also asked its student wing, NSUI, to draft a strategy for agitation on this issue.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is yet to find a foothold in state politics, has also jumped into the fray.
After candle protests and a memorandum, to the DGP, AAP spokesman Mahendra Pratap Singh said that his party was fully supportive of the jailed students and their demands.
“We will remain with the students in their battle and will not allow the government to ruin their future. The punishment being given to them is certainly not in proportion to their offence, if any”, he said.
