Door-to-door campaign, sabhas take centre stage for Rajasthan University students union election

Political parties have initiated door-to-door campaigning and mohalla sabhas ahead of the students union elections, on Tuesday.

As the campaign remained relatively meek due to holiday in the university on Saturday, the candidates took up door-to-door campaigning to woo students and also held sabhas in not only Jaipur city but also neighbouring rural areas, including Bassi, Bagru and Dudu.

“A large number of students studying in Rajasthan University (RU) comes from surrounding rural areas. Although they know that we have been vocal about the students rights since past several years, we are still going to their respective villages and hamlets for campaigning,” said Jaswinder Chaudhary, spokesperson, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI).

“It is needless to say that the students now understand who really has the willingness to work for them. We are also campaigning on social media and this way the students will also understand our ideology and what we stand for,” the Congress students wing leader added.

On the other hand, the Rss-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is carrying out sabhas across the city calling a group of youngsters to discuss students’ issues, said Amit Kumar Badbadwal, ABVP candidate contesting the RU students union elections.

“The primary issues that we are discussing with the students during the campaign include hostel facilities, examinations and irrelevant police surveillance on the university campus. The students are also connecting with us since they have long suffered due to such problems. Sabhas enable the students to convey the problems that they are facing,” he added.

Badbadwal said topics related to nationalism are also being discussed at the sabhas. “Topics related to nationalism cannot be neglected. In fact, they are an integral part of the discussion at these sabhas,” said Badbadwal.

This year, five candidates are contesting the Rajasthan University Students’ Union elections for the presidential post: Amit Kumar Badbadwal for the ABVP, Uttam Chaudhary for NSUI, and independent candidates Manjeet Badsara, Mukesh Choudhary and Pooja Verma.

First Published: Aug 25, 2019 17:28 IST