The West Bengal unit of ABVP has decided to launch a campaign in colleges across the state to built public opinion in support of the Centre’s move of abrogating Article 370 which used to provide special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The development comes at a time when the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has decided to oppose the move with all its might.
According to ABVP sources, the decision was taken during their recently concluded national executive meeting in Kolkata. They said that the move is aimed towards blunting the criticism of some Opposition parties including TMC of the Centre’s move.
“Compared to other states protests against the Centre’s decision of abrogating Article 370 is taking place in larger numbers. So we have decided to approach college and University students in Bengal and make them aware how the Centre’s decision will benefit the country,” ABVP sources said.
However, it remains to be seen that to what extent the ABVP state leadership will be able to execute the decision considering their weak organisation in Bengal. Despite its setback in the Lok Sabha elections TMC’s students’ wing, the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad(TMC) remains the most dominant student's body in the state and controls lions share of the students’ council in the state.
During the meeting, the Central leadership of ABVP announced that they will reach out to the college students in the state to get their feedback on the Centre’s new education policy.
“Several seminars have been held in major Universities of the country on Centre’s new education policy. We want to know what the students of Bengal think about it. We are hopeful that the new education policy will be implemented soon,” Ashish Chauhan, the national general secretary of ABVP.
ABVP has decided to hit streets demanding that vacant posts of Bengali language in schools in the state be filled at the earliest possible.
Despite BJP’s success in the Lok Sabha elections, ABVP has not been able to make many inroads into the campuses of Bengal. “By holding the national executive meeting in Bengal, we want to make our presence felt in the state,” ABVP sources said.