Bengaluru: The Congress has instructed its Karnataka unit to restart student elections on campuses, resuming a practice that was last held in the 1989-90 academic year. A ban on the same was imposed by the Veerendra Patil-led Congress government in 1989.
It is a significant step for the state Congress, which has relied on student-based support to fill in leadership positions in the past.
“The high command has instructed (the state government) to hold student elections,” B.K. Hariprasad, Karnataka MLC and former AICC general secretary, told ThePrint.
The Congress high command has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about the same as well, at least three party leaders said.
The purpose behind restarting student elections is to counter the tightening grip over the fraternity by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Left-leaning outfits, shrinking space for Congress-backed student unions.
Congress’ student wing National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) has seen its influence wane in Karnataka since student elections were seen as dominated by violence, caste-based politics, interference by rowdy elements and politicians, vitiating the atmosphere in colleges.
The Karnataka High Court too has held the view that campus elections were responsible for the widespread violence.
“Elections will be first conducted in government colleges. We (government) cannot direct private colleges or universities to hold elections,” Saleem Ahmed, MLC and former working president of the state Congress, told ThePrint. Ahmed was the last national president of the NSUI from Karnataka.
The NSUI claims that it has over 40 lakh members across 15,000 colleges in India. But there is little information on its actual ground presence in Karnataka’s academic institutions.
Seasoned politicians cutting across party lines, such as Arun Jaitley, Sitaram Yechury, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ananth Kumar, Ajay Maken and Ashok Gehlot, among others, all came up through student movements.
But over the years, the space for student leaders has been given to children and relatives of existing leaders or those with money, multiple politicians ThePrint spoke to said.
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‘Breeding ground for future leaders’
In the late 1980s, student body elections, especially in Bengaluru’s Government RC College and Government Arts & Science College were just as high-profile as any assembly polls.
In Karnataka, leaders like Hariprasad dominated student politics in the 1970s, giving Congress grassroots-level support and a constant source of fresh blood for leadership roles.
Incumbent deputy CM D. K. Shivakumar too was active in student politics. Other leaders like former Karnataka Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, BJP leader N. Ravi Kumar, former minister Roshan Baig and incumbent transport minister Ramalinga Reddy, among others, too came from student movements.
But there was violence in colleges and unruly elements roamed campuses, who were often associated with other anti-social elements from outside.
Even Shivakumar has openly admitted to having had the backing of Kotwal Ramachandra, a notorious gangster, when he was contesting student elections.
Speaking to ThePrint, Ahmed said that in RC College, some members of the students’ union had picked up a fight with the principal in the late 1980s. The principal, who was seen to be close to then education minister K.H. Ranganath, asked for a ban on student elections.
“There was at least one murder on account of student elections and Ranganath was given a picture that student elections breed violence,” Ahmed said.
It led to the ban on student elections which has remained in effect till this day.
Ahmed said that the NSUI gained immense significance after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi lowered the voting age to 18.
“I had requested Rajiv Gandhi to restart student elections in Karnataka, who in turn referred me to Oscar Fernandes who was KPCC (Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee) president. Fernandes asked Ranganath but he did not budge,” Ahmed said.
The Congress, like its counterparts, relied on student movements to shape young leaders. “It was a breeding ground for future leaders,” he added.
But multiple leaders who spoke to ThePrint said the practice of honing student leaders has now been replaced with that of children of established politicians being paradropped into key positions.
Leaders like Hariprasad also lamented the decline of the infrastructure that gave the party its strength.
In the 2022 hijab-related protests, the Congress literally had no position nor presence on campuses.
The Campus Front of India, student arm of the now banned Popular Front of India, stood with the students who demanded the right to wear a hijab in classrooms while several pro-Hindu organisations stood with those opposing this.
Student-led movements also played a crucial role in the Emergency-era protests against Indira Gandhi.
With ABVP and Left-leaning parties dominating student elections in other states, the Congress hopes that its strong presence in Karnataka will attract young students to its ideology and help increase its base among state youth.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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