Anandiben Patel, the governor of Uttar Pradesh, voiced her concern over student leaders organizing a protest march on the campus of Lucknow University (LU). The governor dismissed the students' protest, questioning why there should be a dharna on trivial matters while the university is doing well, according to a report by HT.
“I was informed that the protesting students aspire to become politicians. Have you ever heard of prime minister Narendra Modi or any other prominent leaders staging a protest? Instead, our students should protest against practices like dowry or child marriage,” HT said citing Patel.
Patel urged students to actively address societal issues like child marriage and dowries in order to demonstrate their leadership. She emphasized the value of having an optimistic outlook and asked student leaders to communicate with university representatives in order to come up with practical solutions.
Patel urged student leaders to make a positive impact by helping needy students and establishing connections with the community, but cautioned against interfering with the orderly operation of campuses.
However students disagreed. “As student leaders, we believe that those who have never done student politics cannot understand its dignity and the struggle of student leaders,” said student leaders.
The fact that multiple ministers in the current Uttar Pradesh administration took part in LU's student union elections has also been brought up by the student leaders.
