According to a Times Now report, the polls to select the National Students Union of India (NSUI) president were rigged, with student leaders with merit being ignored for the post. The report further claims the student leaders have complained that the entire selection process for NSUI President was “just a hoax” and that “merit was crushed.”
Times Now had accessed WhatsApp messages, emails and letters by the disgruntled Congress youth cadre in which the youth leaders expressed their concern and claimed that there is no democratic process for the selection of candidates. These youth leaders shared their concerns on a WhatsApp group titled ‘NSUI National Office Bearers’, reported Times Now.
Questioning the process of selecting the NSUI chief, Karishma Thakur, an NSUI leader wrote on the group, “‘Interview ka natak bhi kyun kiya jata hain? Seedhe ek naamappoint karna better hain. (Why is the drama of conducting an interview even done? It’s better to simply appoint one person.)”. Another leader, Azim Khan, reportedly wrote, “Why we were not called for interview? Why we were sidelined or ignored? We are not even qualified for first interview (sic).” There is a clear indication in this WhatsApp message that inside the Grand Old party, everything happens on ‘sifarrish’.
Even when one of the disgruntled leaders reached out to Rahul Gandhi with their complaints regarding the issue, the Congress President simply told them to speak to KC Venugopal, AICC General Secretary and nothing was done in this regard.
Another dissenter Manoj Hazarika wrote a letter to Rahul Gandhi adding, “Many national officer bearers are unhappy to lose their post’. National officer bearers are not being given the respect they deserve. The President in charge of youth wing is taking tours with a hollow program. Can you become PM by ignoring first-time voters in polls?” In this case too, as one can predict, no action was taken by the Congress top brass.
In another letter addressed to Gandhi and signed by the office bearers of the Congress youth wing including 3 general secretaries, 12 national secretaries and 5 state presidents, clearly mentioned the lack of a fair and transparent process for the selection of the National President of NSUI. The letter further stated, “Names were selected to pave the way for a single person by keeping many aspirants out. The interview was also just a formality and we were given only 2-3 minutes to explain our qualification”.
This comes days after Priyanka Gandhi was elevated to the post of General secretary. Few days back, the Congress party officially appointed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East, ahead of the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The cheerleaders of the Congress party dubbed the move a masterstroke and strongly believe that Priyanka would instill a new energy in the party when it has to contest in a state where it is politically irrelevant.
However, the disenchantment among the NSUI leaders is indicative of the fact that the rampant dynasty politics in Congress is at every level. Not only that despite repeated promises by Rahul Gandhi to democratize the party ranks, nothing has come to fruition.
