Kolkata, Aug 28 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Ritabrata Banerjee on Friday accused the BJP government of not taking any initiative to hold student union elections and demanded immediate polls in all colleges and universities in the state.
Banerjee, who leads one of the two Trinamool Congress factions, also said his group was considering fixing an upper age limit for those holding the post of student leaders in the party.
“Our only demand is elections to students’ bodies in all colleges and universities as otherwise the students’ movement will be hampered,” he said while addressing the foundation day programme of the students’ wing of the TMC faction led by him.
Claiming that the BJP won the Assembly polls in the state with a huge mandate by capitalising on the mistakes of the erstwhile TMC government, Banerjee alleged that the saffron party was not taking steps to hold student body elections.
“The government must clearly state whether elections to the students’ unions will be held or not,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee has often been accused by the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction of being soft on the BJP despite being the Leader of Opposition.
Alleging that the BJP government had nominated its MPs and MLAs to college governing bodies, he said such acts showed that the ruling party had not been able to shed the “ills” of the previous CPI(M) and Mamata Banerjee-led governments.
“You (BJP) are guilty of the same wrongs that have been going on for years, and you are continuing with the same policy,” Banerjee said.
Holding the foundation day programme at Rani Rashmoni Avenue following an order of the Calcutta High Court, Banerjee said the TMC faction led by him was running the show with funds collected from donations.
Former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction’s president Arup Roy, Javed Khan and other leaders were present on stage for their programme at Rani Rashmoni Avenue.
The high court allowed the Mamata Banerjee-led faction’s students’ wing to hold the programme at Cathedral Road near Birla Planetarium in the city.
Taking a dig at the rival faction, Banerjee claimed that people well past the age of studentship and those who had never studied in a college were seemingly leading its students’ wing foundation day programme. PTI AMR MNB
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.