The results of student union elections have proved to be a major setback for the ruling Congress as the student wing of the party NSUI could not secure a win in any of the 14 major government universities of Rajasthan. The NSUI could not win even in the home districts of CM Ashok Gehlot and state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara.
Of the 14 major government universities seven were won by independent candidates, five by the Right-wing student organization Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and two by left-wing student organization Student Federation of India (SFI).
The student wing of Congress NSUI failed to bag the president’s post in any of the government universities.
The student union elections were held after a gap of two years due to Covid-19 and were considered important as the state is bound to go for assembly polls in one and a half years, so the results are being seen as an alarming situation for the ruling party as it is somewhere indicating the resentment of the youth.
All the top leaders and ministers of the government failed to secure a good win for NSUI in their districts.
The factional politics of the party also came to the fore in the most prestigious election of the Rajasthan University of Jaipur where the MLA of the deputy CM Sachin Pilot faction Mukesh Bhakhar openly support independent candidate Nirmal Choudhry instead of NSUI candidate Ritu Barala. Choudhry won the election and the NSUI candidate stood in the third position.
In tribal-dominated districts such as Dungarpur and Banswara, the NSUI failed to mark its presence. The panel of Bheel Pradesh Vidhyarthi Morcha (BPVM) won at all the four colleges in Dungarpur; and in Banswara also, the BPVM fielded their candidates in nine of seven collages, and won at five.
At other prominent universities such as Jai Narayan Vyas in Jodhpur, the home town of CM Ashok Gehlot, SFI candidate Arvind Singh Bhati won as president. Bhati was also a rebel of NSUI who joined SFI and won the election.
On the other hand, the Right-wing student organization ABVP scored a good win in five universities. The full panel of ABVP got elected in
Sukhadiya University of Udaipur and MDS university of Ajmer.
BJP state president Satish Poonia said student union results show that the state is facing the worst condition in higher education and chaos in educational institutions. This government is anti- youth, farmers and anti-women, and there is anti-incumbency against the Congress government.
Congress spokesperson R C Choudhary said that it is important to see that those who have won as independents are supporting which ideology as many were seeking tickets and then become a rebel.
