FROM THE GROUND ZERO: Aligarh Students Favour Akhilesh

K. Ramachandra Murthy

Aligarh (UP): Majority students of Aligarh Muslim University have expressed their unstinted support for the young chief minister in the ensuing elections. They were listing the number of development works undertaken by Samajwadi Party (SP) government under Akhilesh Yadav. They are happy with the electoral tie-up between SP and the Congress.

Many of the students who came from Bihar, West Bengal and other parts of the country wanted the BJP juggernaut to be stopped in UP.

Aligarh is one of the important cities in Western Uttar Pradesh where the first phase of polling is due on February 11. In all 73 out of the total 403 UP assembly constituencies are scheduled to have polling in the first round. They are situated in 15 western UP districts.

Aligarh is among the districts selected by MIM to test its popularity. Some students spoke in favour of Assaduddin Owaisi. Many students raised the issue of Nazeeb Ahmad of JNU whose whereabouts are not known. Nazeeb had an altercation with the right wing ABVP on 14 October 2016 and he was missing from the next day. An emotional student said he would vote for any party that brings back Nazeeb, a first year MSc biotechnology student who was remarkably bright in his studies.

Talking to this correspondent on the university campus on Sunday, the students vociferously opposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his brand of politics.

Modi is perceived as a divisive politician by the students of this university. They said the demonetisation move has done irreparable damage to the poor and the lower middle class.

Rich people like Adani and Ambani are the beneficiaries of the disastrous step taken by the PM.

When asked if BSP leader Mayawati who gave almost hundred tickets to Muslims does not deserve their votes, the student said even the SP and the Congress have given enough tickets to Muslims. The fact that Mayawati was able to maintain law and order when she was chief minister did not impress them. They are in no mood vote for Behenji.

They said they are absolutely satisfied with the facilities on the Campus. Food in the hostels is good and the library facility is excellent, they said. Most of them have computers. They credit Akhilesh Yadav for providing maximum facilities for students. Their only complaint against the government is that only 50 percent of them are getting scholarships. They want that the facility to be extended to all the students. Even outside the campus, the SP is fairly popular but the BJP is not far behind.