Rahul Gandhi meets Sibal over student union elections

NEW DELHI - Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Saturday said the issue of student elections not being held in three Uttar Pradesh universities would be forwarded to the authorities concerned after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi met him over the matter.

Gandhi was accompanied by students from the Benaras Hindu University, Allahabad University and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) when he met Sibal at his residence here.

After the meeting, Sibal told reporters that the concerns of the students will be forwarded to the universities concerned.

Rahul Gandhi, along with student representatives from Aligarh Muslim University, Allahabad University and Benaras Hindu University came to me and explained the aspirations of students…that they should be an integral part of the democratic processes of the university to take forward the academic excellence, Sibal said.

Their concerns were taken into account and we certainly feel that students should be an integral part of the democratic processes of the university. Those concerns of course will be conveyed to the universities concerned so they can take forward the agenda of the communities by listening to the voices of the younger generation…,” the minister said.

While Allahabad University has not had student elections since the last two years, AMU’s Students Union was dissolved in 2007 after the campus was rocked by the murder of a student, unrest and an incident of arson.

Benaras Hindu University has not had elections since 1997 when violence erupted during the introductory speech of candidates for that year’s student union polls.