NEW DELHI: “There is strength in unity,” goes a Chinese idiom. Mainstream Indian Communists who still look up to China for inspiration are yet to realise the meaning of this, but student comrades seem to have got the message.
CPI(M)-backed Students Federation of India (SFI) is joining hands with All India Student Association (AISA), the extreme Left union that was once responsible for ringing the former’s death knell in many universities, including Delhi University (DU). What has prompted the alliance is “the increasing menace” from BJP students’ wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). As DU elections are nearing, Left student unions have understood strength in unity if they are to survive the Rightist onslaught. “AISA is the biggest party after ABVP and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI). In DU polls, there should be no problem in AISA and SFI contesting under a single banner,” said Sucheta De, AISA’s national president. AISA had polled around 8,000 votes last year.
SFI, which polled around 3,000 votes in the last elections, believes administrative reforms by the new government have hampered student and teacher functions. “The so-called reforms in higher education and the current UGC notification have made a drastic impact on the future of teachers and students. To tackle this, the Left contesting together is a possibility,” said Prashant Mukherjee, the Delhi incharge of SFI.
SFI dominated student politics for nearly 25 years, but has been at the receiving end for the last few years. The increasing presence of ABVP and AISA in campuses such as JNU and the recent arrests of All India Student Federation (AISF) leader Kanhaiya Kumar and AISA leaders have brought Leftist students’ unions closer.
“We have not sought permission from the party leadership yet for the alliance, but we have their tacit support,’’ said an SFI leader in DU.
AISF, the CPI-affiliated students’ union, is also in a cohesive mood. NSUI, however, has no plans to replicate the West Bengal model of alliance with the Left.
“We are still working on our plans to formulate our strategy for the DUSU polls. Any alliance with Communist parties is out of the question. NSUI will fight alone. The new entry of the CYSS (Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, which is backed by the Aam Aadmi Party) is not going to change the dynamics as they are completely dependent on the state machinery” said Neeraj Mishra, NSUI spokesperson.