Maharanis' students elated to meet Rahul

The staff and students of the Maharani's Arts College for Women are an elated lot, as All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to deliver a youth motivation speech and will interact with the participants, here, on Saturday.

Students of Maharani's Science College for Women and Maharani's Commerce and Management College for Women will also join them at the Quadrangle of the arts college.

Gandhi, in the second and final leg of the third phase of his tour, 'Janashirvada Yatra', in the old Mysuru region, including Mysuru, the home district of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, is participating in a host of events on Saturday and Sunday. It has to be recalled that Gandhi had toured Hassan district, mainly Belur and Hassan towns, during the first leg of his tour that included Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Chikkamagaluru districts on March 20 and 21.

A S Shwetha, a student of the science college, who has registered for the event, said, she is very happy to be part of the event. "All said and done, he is a celebrity. He is an heir to one of the major political parties. It is a lifetime opportunity for me to see Gandhi," she said.

M Channabasavegowda, the principal of the arts college, said, 400 students from his college and 300 students each from the science and commerce colleges have been registered for the event. "A total of 1,000 students will be witness to the speech by Gandhi on Rajarishi Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Vedike. The registered students have been provided a pass by the Police for entry into the venue," he said.

"A total of 75 questions from the students, 25 each from three colleges, have already been sent to the Karnataka State Pradesh Congress (KPCC). The shortlisted questions and the students will be communicated to us during the event. As far as I have seen, the questions range on subjects like Gandhi's vision for India, in case he becomes prime minister and extension of benefits like laptops to students of all communities," he said.

N Roopasri, a commerce student, said, "Rahul Gandhi is often dubbed as dumb. But, I think, there is a conspiracy in his own party to project him like that. I just want to see him, as I do not trust all the forwards on the social media."

P K Saritha, an arts student, said, "Even though Political Science is not my subject, I follow politics closely. What is Gandhi's claim to fame? Gandhi is already a three-term MP from Amethi, since 2004. Earlier, his family members have represented the Lok Sabha constituency - Sonia Gandhi (once), Rajiv Gandhi (four times) and Sanjay Gandhi (once). Except for two short terms - 1977-80 and 1998-99 - the constituency has been represented by the Congress since the first election in 1967. Out of 51 years, since the formation of the constituency, the Congress, mainly the members of the Nehru-Gandhi family, have represented it for 47 years. Has Gandhi, or even other MPs, so far, been able to transform the constituency into a model for others to emulate?"

"The youth look up to him, even though he is in the 40s, as an icon. If he could have presented Amethi as a model constituency to the rest of India, other MPs and also the people could have been inspired in the real sense," she added.