ABVP’s defeat in Allahabad University union polls gives SP ammo to attack the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh.
New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party (SP), whose student wing swept the Allahabad University polls, claims it’s time the BJP read the writing in the wall.
The Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha (SCS), the student wing of the SP, won four of five seats, leaving ABVP with only the post of general secretary in the election. The results were declared Saturday evening.
In 2016, when ABVP candidates Rohit Mishra and Abhishek Pandey won the president and joint secretary posts, respectively, they were congratulated by no less than BJP national president Amit Shah.
“The results of the Allahabad University Students’ Union elections represent the resolve of the Uttar Pradesh’s youth towards a change,” he tweeted. It was for the first time an ABVP candidate won the top post after the restoration of student polls in the central university in 2012.
The “change” did take place in 2017, when the Samajwadi Party lost badly in the assembly elections and the BJP registered an emphatic victory.
ABVP’s defeat this time has given ammo to Samajwadi Party to launch a counterattack. “If the 2016 win (of ABVP) was a precursor to 2017, then the 2017 victory (of SCS) should be a precursor to 2019. Going by the trend in universities across the country, the BJP is clearly losing its popularity among the youth. The New India is not supporting them,” said Sunil Yadav Sajan, MLC and Samajwadi Party spokesperson.
Allahabad University has always been a Left-Socialist bastion barring the past two years. The RSS-affiliated ABVP made its presence felt on the campus in 2015 —bagging four out the five posts except the president, which was won by an independent, Richa Singh, backed by SCS.
In 2016, the ABVP won two seats, including the president and joint secretary while the rest went to the SCS.
“Usually I don’t comment on student union elections, but we are living in a post-truth era where every election win is played out as a vindication for the Modi government. In that sense, there is an underlying message in the recent election results,” said Manoj Jha, RJD spokesperson.
The BJP, however, rejects such claims. “Six months ago, we formed government in UP with a record victory. The youth has shown their support for the BJP. University elections are fought on local factors. To say that this would turn the UP’s politics is an exaggeration,” said Shalabh Mani Tripathi, spokesperson of UP BJP.
Although it has played down the Allahabad University poll results, the BJP could have a reason to worry. Phulpur, adjacent to Allahabad, will see a parliamentary by-election soon as Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the seat to join the state government.
With Mayawati opting out of this race, there could be a Samajwadi Party candidate supported by the Congress and the BSP. A joint opposition candidate could likely pose a strong challenge to the BJP.
Apart from this, the BJP is also preparing for some local body elections in UP, scheduled for next month. The party won 10 out of 12 mayor posts in 2012. “We have shown excellent performance in local body elections even when we were not in power. Now, when the people have given us such a huge mandate, we can easily show better results,” Tripathi added.