JNU Students Union President (JNUSU) Sai Balaji said the collective would begin campaigns across the country from next month (March), in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
“The present government has clearly ditched us in several ways and we have been bearing the brunt of it. This campaign is also to vote the BJP out of power,”
Last week, thousands of students and youths of the collective took out a march in the national capital from Red Fort to Parliament Street demanding jobs and better educational opportunities.
“To any new government, our demands would be to fill all vacant posts in the government, offer an education loan waiver,” Balaji said, referring to a charter released by YINCC.
The charter demands allocation of at least 10 per cent on education in the budget, ending the practice of alleged seat-cuts in universities, fee hike, and reservation-cut in higher educational institutions.
“End gender discriminatory rules, ensure academic freedom and freedom of expression on campuses, fulfill constitutionally-mandated reservations,” it said.
On the other side Youth leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mevani here on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of tarnishing Gujarat’s image, attacking constitutional institutions and targeting those who question him.
They were taking part in an event in Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s hometown Rajkot under the banner of Team Indranil for you group of former Congress legislator Indranil Rajyaguru. Kumar, a former president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union, said the Prime Minister had blemished Gujarat’s image at the national level. “You can see how constitutional institutions are being destroyed,” he said, expressing wonder how the Bharatiya Janata Party’s IT cell head comes to know about the date of an election before the Election Commission declares it.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) starts grilling Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law Robert Vadra soon after Priyanka Gandhi was entrusted with the responsibility of eastern Uttar Pradesh, he added. “Where was the ED for five years? This is not to give clean chit to anyone, but to explain how institutions are being misused. CBI is fighting CBI and Modi’s favourite (Nageshwar) Rao is punished by the Supreme Court,” he added. He said governments are chosen for setting up schools and hospitals, providing jobs to the people, “but when we ask questions on this his (PM’s) people start coming and intimidating us”.
On his visit, Kumar said, “For the past couple of months we are going to different parts of the country to carry out a programme called ‘Samvidhan Bachao, Desh Bachao’. And our motto is ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Samvidhan’”. It’s sad that the government is feeling frightened by our campaign, he added. He dismissed charges of sedition against him for allegedly raising “anti-national” slogans at an event at JNU three years back.
