NSUI workers’ dig after AISA’s Neha Bora gets Rahul-Priyanka spotlight
All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora was in the spotlight during a recent protest in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. What drew attention was her presence alongside Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, as well as the opportunity she got to address a press conference alongside leaders of the INDIA bloc.
However, her prominence appeared to have irked some National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) leaders. On the same day Bora was seen leading the protest alongside Rahul and Priyanka, an NSUI worker changed the name of the ‘NSUI Delhi Coordination’ WhatsApp group to ‘We the Chhotu’.
According to sources, the move was intended to convey the frustration among some NSUI workers, who felt they were being treated like “chhotus”: workers at tea stalls who are called upon only when needed and otherwise ignored.
The group name remained unchanged for nearly 48 hours. The WhatsApp group also included officebearers of the NSUI’s national body.
Later, Rahul and Priyanka held a separate meeting with officebearers of the NSUI, Youth Congress and Seva Dal, and enquired about the condition of workers injured during the protest. Later that evening, the WhatsApp group’s name was changed back to ‘NSUI Delhi Coordination’.
According to sources, some officebearers also conveyed their concerns to a member of Rahul Gandhi’s core team. They reportedly argued that Rahul needed to give NSUI officebearers the same attention as Bora, pointing out that while she was an outsider to the organisation, NSUI workers were part of the Congress’s organisational cadre.
Any perceived discrimination between the two, they warned, could prove damaging to the party.
Also Read: Modi’s ‘Gadar’ outing with BJP’s RS pick & CJP’s search for a ride to Bengaluru protest
Anti-drug marathon to ‘Breaking Bad’: TVK functionary caught with 100kg of meth
The anti-drug campaign of Tamil Nadu’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government just ran into an awkward plot twist. N. Boopalan, a TVK Nagapattinam district functionary and election in-charge for Kilvelur, was arrested by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officers in connection with the seizure of over 100 kg of methamphetamine allegedly linked to a network moving the drug towards Sri Lanka.
This is not the first time a TVK leader has been drawn into a drugs-related controversy. Earlier this year, Human Resources Minister D. Sarathkumar faced intense scrutiny after an old video from an IPL match resurfaced, showing him handling a white powdery substance with a card and a currency note. Opposition leaders and critics alleged it looked like drug use but the minister firmly denied the charge, insisting he was crushing a prescribed tablet for his young child who refused to swallow it whole. The clip gained traction around the same period as the chief minister’s high-profile anti-drug marathon, adding to the political heat at the time.
The TVK’s promise of eradicating the drug menace was a key part of its assembly election campaign, along with continuous attacks on the preceding DMK government over the issue. Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay even ran a ‘Start Run, Stop Drugs’ marathon at Marina Beach in June, urging youth to choose sports over narcotics.
While the TVK promptly expelled the Nagapattinam functionary after his arrest, the DMK did not let the issue pass. DMK president M.K. Stalin seized the moment with a reference to ‘Breaking Bad’, the hit US TV show. In a post on X, he declared the TVK “not just a bad party, but a ‘Breaking Bad’ party”, suggesting the functionary had confused the chief minister’s lectures on eradication with lessons in concealment of involvement in drugs. Stalin demanded a full probe into the involvement of a wider network, and warned Vijay against turning the episode into another cinematic punch dialogue.
Within five months of taking power, the party that ran against drugs finds itself fielding questions about one of its own local leaders. Videos and memes on the issue have already gained traction on social media.
Also Read: Purvanchal ‘bahubali’s’ surprise cameo at a UP Congress meet & a political parody in Telangana