JNUSU heads to Varanasi to campaign against Modi

In a statement, the JNUSU appealed to students and teachers to join their campaign against Modi.

Speaking to The Indian Express over phone, JNUSU secretary Sandeep Saurabh said, “We want to tell people that while Congress-led UPA crossed limits of corruption, a corporate-led Modi is not the alternative. His campaign is backed by corporates, who have ‘manufactured’ consensus about him.”

Saurabh said their team would be distributing nearly two lakh pamphlets explaining how crony capitalism is behind the “so-called Gujarat model of success”.

“We will also be going door-to-door not just in the city, but also in the nearby areas. The number of our volunteers will increase after May 5, when some examinations will get over,” he said.

JNUSU said people should not be willing to treat Modi as the messiah for “good governance”, while forgetting his alleged crimes in the 2002 Gujarat riots. It said Modi’s popularity was nothing but “media-manufactured-mania”. It added that Modi, with his background of hate politics, would be a worse alternative than the Congress.

“The corporates were angry with the Congress, so they are portraying Modi as the new leader. But there is not going to be any change at the policy-making level. Therefore, we want Modi to be defeated,” Saurabh said.

When pointed out that such activities would help Kejriwal in his campaign, Saurabh said, “We want Modi defeated. Kejriwal is challenging him. If he gets benefit in the process, so be it.”

AAP spokesperson Prerna Prasad said, “There has been no communication from them to us. In a democracy, everybody has a right to campaign in favour or against anybody. We have nothing to comment at this stage.”

In another development, the general secretary of Kashi Vidyapeeth’s Students’ Union, a member of Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), has written to the Vice-Chancellor demanding that Modi’s helicopter not be allowed to land in the institution on the day of his nomination (April 24).

“It is an academic institution and it should not be used for political purposes. We will protest if the permission is not taken back,” general  secretaryVikas Singh said.

NSUI said it was not aware of any such plans. “It may be his initiative. We are not planning any such thing,” Vijay Jaiswal, NSUI vice-president of Purvanchal region, said.