Last evening, the capital of Bihar was rocked with a big hue and cry against Prashant Kishor’s visit to Vice- Chancellor of Patna University, Prof. Rash Bihari Pd. Singh. There was a big protest near the residence of the VC which further turned into a violent reaction led by BJP’s student wing, ABVP.
On the other hand, political table seems to have part-time twist as the ally of JDU, BJP has registered a strong disagreement against JDU’s second in command and lieutenant of Nitish Kumar. BJP leaders like MLC Nawal Kishor Yadav, MLA Manoj Sharma and Nitin Navin sat on a dharna outside the Pirbahore police station, protesting the arrest of ABVP activists for vandalising the vehicle of Kishor on Monday evening, after he came out of the university vice chancellor’s residence.
Though the allegations on Prashant Kishor were brushed aside by the principal of Patna Law College, Mohammad Sharif, who was there at the VC residence, said:
“Kishor had come to meet the VC with another person to discuss some academic projects. There was no discussion on the PUSU polls.”
The move has brought in several reactions which for obvious reason is not healthy for the ruling party and its leaders.
BJP MLA from Bankipur, Patna, Nitin Navin in conversation with Newsd said:
“Agenda of a political party and a student union are different so there should remain aloof from the course of student union election. Prashant Kishor has pressurised the VC of the university to influence the university poll. We have submitted our grievance to hon’ble Governor, Lalji Tandon and he instructed the VC for a transparent and truthful election.” He further added- It was Prashant Kishor who violated the model code of conduct but police and administration shielded him and when the students protested, they were arrested. It’s really unfortunate.”
While speaking to Newsd, NSUI spokesperson Lairab Ahmad said: “The Patna University ahead of an important election has turned into a battlefield where muscle and money power are in use by the student wing of both the JDU and the BJP. This effort is solely concentrated at diverting our attention from main issues and concerns of the student community. JDU student wing and ABVP (BJP’s student wing) are influencing the student election- one is exploiting CM’s power and the other is misusing the Governor’s house. NSUI strictly assures to uphold the dignity of democracy during the polls.”
In conversation with Newsd; AISF, national secretary, Sushil Kumar iterated last evening incident and said, “Yesterday’s high voltage drama of Prashant Kishor is sole effort of the JDU to capture and manipulate the mandate of democracy. The protest of students against violation of model code of conduct is legitimate but that should not have been done in violent manner. The deputy of Nitish ji is sent on election battleground to divert the attention of students from their concerns. Apart from this, there are complaints of bribing students in various manners such as, cinema ticket, money, etc. We have tried our best in putting up a good fight for better future of the student community.”
It should be noted that AISF, AISA and Chhatra RJD are fighting PUSU election in an alliance. This experiment is carried out keeping the general elections of 2019 in mind. As a matter of fact, 60% of the students enrolled in Patna University are girls but ironically there’s only one female candidate standing in the election.
In recent times, did we ever find such moves by any political party or any leader aimed at directly influencing or hijacking the election phenomenon? It can be summed up that, the varsity poll for JDU is now a battle to be won either by hook or crook. This act of desperation by Prashant Kishor, in influencing polls is nothing but a new method to rope in and woo the youth section of society without having any understanding of their aspirational future.
