Is student politics returning to Mumbai? ABVP gets three booster shots

Like they say any publicity is good publicity This year the number of members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishads Mumbai wing has increased by 10000 to 45000 from last yearSome members of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad mdash Yadunath Deshpande Amit Mishra Aniket Ovhal Bharat Gathekar Susheel Kumar Rohit Chandore Bhushan Thakare Ameya Gode and Suraj Lokare mdash at the Press Club of India Mumbai on Friday PicsBipin KokateAccording to ABVP sources the steady rise began three years ago around the time the Modi wave hit the city with its proBJP sentimentAn added boost to the BJPassociated studentsrsquo union came with the statement of Vinod Tawde state education minister in support of student university elections last yearOn Friday the Mumbai wing of the ABVP organised a press conference where Susheel Kumar spoke out about the suicide being politicisedABVP again rose to national consciousness after the death of Hyderabad University student Rohith mdash who ended his life on January 17 due to castebased discrimination unwarranted academic restrictions and loss of stipend When ABVPrsquos Matunga unit office was attacked on January 23 it created more sympathy for the group Student members circulated an audio clip which went viral across the city It voiced their stand that the incident has been politicised facts had been distorted and the ABVP was being targetedThe attack on ABVPrsquos Matunga office in which a member was injured gave the two units an opportunity to come together According to a student member soon after the attack they received a message from the higherups to hold protests across the city Vaibhav Tripathi General Secretary of Mumbai East ABVP claimed ldquoA lot of negative things were being said about ABVP We had to protest We didnrsquot need to persuade students they came on their ownrdquo50th celebrationAccording to students the golden jubilee celebration of Maharashtra ABVP titled 50th MahaABVP Adhiveshan also garnered growth ldquoWe targeted apolitical students and explained how ABVP functions We may be close to RSS but we do not take students to BJP rallies or for any political eventsrdquo said Tripathi who added that around 3000 students and members attended the function ldquoSince the Adhiveshan has been held we have had a surge in the numbers of students wanting to join usrdquo said Tripathi who had organised a mock parliament for 200 students on January 19 for which over 4000 turned upAccording to a state senior RSS functionary ABVP appoints one RSS member who plays the role of an organisational secretary who presents studentsrsquo grievances to authoritiesSuccess storiesThe fact that many ABVP members have gone on to become ministers in the government also helps General Secretary of ABVP Mumbai Aniket Ovhal said ldquoVinod Tawde is one such example In the last three years our numbers are on an increase it mostly used to be between 3000035000 but now it has increased and crossed 45000 this yearrdquoA new beginningAfter a ban on the student union elections in 1992 response had dipped Student elections in Maharashtra were banned after National Students Union of India NSUI candidate Owen DrsquoSouza was murdered during the Mithibai College class representativesrsquo elections ldquoHowever now with the announcement that the elections will be held again we are a bit hopefulrdquo said Ovhal who added that the ABVP members are a floating population hence an accurate figure is not known ldquoIn the rsquo90s we had around 90000 members This is when elections were legalrdquo said OvhalWhile the current studentsrsquo union in Mumbai is ruled by MNSrsquos student wing MNVS and Shiv Senarsquos Yuva Sena ABVP NSUI the Congressrsquos students wings have an upper hand in competing in a university studentsrsquo union election as the bodies existed in the rsquo90s