The party activated its outreach programme almost two months before the polls. (Kamleshwar Singh/Representational Image)ABVP, that had a very feeble presence in the PU politics, has suddenly gained traction this time around. Many processions were organised by the party for their campaign. Be it Tiranga March, for which they roped in Bhojpuri actor Manoj Tiwari, the Swashma Swaraj peace procession, or the meritorious student felicitation, these events garnered them positive publicity. They were also in the news over some controversies too.
The party activated its outreach programme almost two months before the polls.
ABVP, which had only one candidate contesting the presidential post last time, had swept in a huge number of votes. Their candidate, Ashish Rana, had lost only by a small margin to SFS candidate Kanupriya. The party has come on full swing this time, and has adopted the slogan from their parent party (BJP) — ‘Ab ki baar Modi sarkaar’ — for their election campaign inside the university. The party further wants to highlight the importance of national issues as well, and not just university’s. The party has also made promises of getting more funds to PU through the Centre, which several students believe they can.
The party’s main focus lies on the two biggest departments of the University, University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) and University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS) and the three year law. On talking to the students, while the law department seems to be inclining towards ABVP, owing to the popularity of ABVP’s presidential candidate, Paras Rattan in the department and also due to the strong presence of the party in their department, the UIET is more inclined towards NSUI as their presidential candidate belongs to the department.
