Will The Opposition In Maharashtra Get Traction From Student's Agitation?

India seems to be enamoured with the voice of the students currently! Not just in our country but all over the world, the media are talking about student agitations that are taking place in various parts of India. From Delhi to Mumbai and from Jharkhand to Pune, students were seen coming out on the roads in large numbers to voice their demands over the mismanagement seen in examinations and the overall education system. The trend seen across the country was that the Opposition was trying to benefit from these agitations. The big question, however, is will the Opposition be able to get any real political benefit out of this wave of student protests in a large state like Maharashtra?

Young Voters Set To Grow

The data generated by various agencies shows that about 38 crore youngsters will be voting in the 2029 Lok Sabha polls. This, according to experts, will be the largest chunk of voters as a segment. Political parties recently have started identifying segments of voters, such as "farmers", "women", and "salaried class", and targeting them with various beneficiary schemes. They have been given benefits like tax concessions or direct benefit transfers. But somehow nobody thought that the age group of 17 to 29 would also become a segment that would grow to such an extent as to make a huge difference in all upcoming polls. They will be a decisive factor in the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.

Parties Court Student Support

Both the ruling coalition, the BJP-led Mahayuti, as well as parties like Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have now got active and have started holding rallies in Mumbai and other parts of the state in support of the student agitation. The BJP held "Tiranga rallies" in cities like Pune and other parts of the state to galvanise their youth and student activists to come out onto the streets in their support, while Uddhav and Raj Thackeray held large rallies in Mumbai and started reaching out to the young activists and student leaders.

The big question is whether the issues raised by the students regarding the complete mismanagement in the examination system as well as the overall education sector can be addressed—let alone be solved—by the opposition parties in Maharashtra.

Education Sector Faces Structural Problems

Firstly, the overall problem lies in the gross commercialisation of the education sector and rampant privatisation at every level, from primary schools to universities. The policies adopted by the central and state governments, in the past three decades, led to massive privatisation of the entire education sector. As a result, only those who could afford it could send their children to expensive private schools that mushroomed across the country. The privatisation and the commercialisation drives have now reached such a level that even the middle-class families are finding it difficult to cope with the rising costs of education. Bringing the cost of education down is impossible now. So, there is no way quality education with good infrastructure and good human resources (teachers) can now be brought to government-run schools.

Secondly, the financial condition of most states, including Maharashtra, seems to be pathetic, to say the least. The state now has a debt of over Rs 9 lakh crore and has no funds for basic welfare schemes, so it can barely fulfil obligations, such as paying salaries and pensions of government employees and servicing the debt. How will it keep the students happy and solve their problems related to a seemingly collapsing education structure?

Thirdly, a large lobby of politicians from both sides of the political divide has vested interests in the education sector of the state. Many politicians, across party lines, own or run private schools and colleges and have minted crores every year in the past decades. They would not allow the government or any political party to change the system and improve government schools and colleges.

Impact On 2029 Polls Uncertain

Looking at the overall situation, there is no way the recent student protests will affect political parties or allow them to even benefit from these agitations. The young generation seems smart enough to understand that the situation in the education sector is hardly going to change because of student agitations. How it translates into votes in the 2029 polls is another question!

It is interesting to note that just like the nationwide anti-corruption movement of 2011, which started with a hunger strike by Maharashtra’s Anna Hazare and changed the political history of India, the current student agitation originated from a young Maharashtrian student, Abhijit Dipke, based in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. The context of Anna’s agitation was entirely different and could galvanise a political moment; whether the current student agitation can do the same needs to be seen!

Rohit Chandavarkar is a senior journalist who has worked for 31 years with various leading newspaper brands and television channels in Mumbai and Pune.

Published on: Friday, August 21, 2026, 09:14 PM IST