Support for all parties among Lucknow U students; edge to Akhilesh

The Lucknow University’s science canteen, where students of all streams meet in between classes, is these days abuzz with politics. Heated discussions on who they should vote for in the ongoing Vidhan Sabha elections abound over spicy chole samosa and ginger tea.

When this correspondent caught up with youngsters from the Political Science department and asked them who they would vote, “Modiji ko vote karenge! (I will vote for Modi)” says an excited Mansi. Why? “Because he will take the country forward.” How? A long silence follows, ending in giggles. Rinky Yadav and Sudha Sharma say they would vote for BSP because Mayawati has zero tolerance for crime. Maryam Rukhsar and Shubham Tripathi from the Ancient History department all said that they would vote for the SP-Congress combination. “For once, youthful leaders are taking the lead. Akhilesh government has delivered specially with expanding medical facilities and infrastructure for women safety” says Maryam. “We also want someone who would take everyone forward. I am against BJP’s divisive politics” says Shubham.

Sociology student Harshit Gautam says that despite being a Dalit, he would vote for Samajwadi Party not Mayawati, because “Akhilesh bhaiya has done good work”. He feels BJP, which has not revealed it’s CM candidate, cannot be trusted. He adds that he thinks the BJP is covertly supporting Mayawati to damage the SP-Congress alliance’s prospects and that BSP and BJP may join hands in a coalition if the need arises.

Interestingly, the issue of Rohith Vemula’s suicide and ensuring churn at University of Hyderabad, and the incidents involving several students at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University seem to have little bearing for the students at Lucknow U.

NSUI State Vice President Himanshu Sharma says that he is hopeful that the SP-Congress alliance would bag at least 250 seats. He feels there is palpable excitement about the two young leaders leading the youth of Uttar Pradesh. “The youth of Uttar Pradesh is politically enlightened. They are frustrated with Modi’s jumlas and false promises. They want answers. They want to know how demonetisation helped the country, how many jobs were created.”

Sharma alleges that among the university faculty, a sizeable number of teaching staff are RSS and BJP sympathisers. “They give ABVP, BJP’s youth wing free hand to campaign, even bully opponents. We are denied permission to even hold seminars or peaceful protests,” he alleges.

Similar thoughts were echoed by Bilal Khan, State Secretary of Samajwadi Chatra Sabha, Samajwadi Party’s youth wing, alleging that “Akhilesh Government has done so much but we have not been able to convey it to people. Most news channels and newspapers, despite the tremendous failure of demonetisation and many policies of central government, are singing BJP’s paeans.” “But even with these odds, we will come back with a majority” he says hopefully.

Vivek Singh of ABVP says by joining hands Congress and Samajwadi Party have shown “Dono ek hi thaali ke chatte batte hain. It has made it easy for us”. As for CM candidate? "Modiji ka naam hi kaafi hai. BJP did not announce a CM candidate in Haryana or Maharashtra, people vote for Modi.” Has demonetisation hurt the students? “No, most students are comfortable using Paytm and debit cards. They are not affected at all. In fact they understand how beneficial the drive has been for the nation” says Singh.