THE HOPE for change that drove the Aam Aadmi Party’s ( AAP) sensational debut in last year’s Delhi Assembly polls still finds resonance among several youngsters, not least of them the students of IIT- Kanpur.
Despite the pressing demands of a packed academic schedule, a group of around 50 students at the premier engineering institute has been keeping aside one hour daily to campaign for AAP on the social media.
Leading the team is Shashank Singh, a fourth- year civil engineering student who is also a volunteer for the party.
“ We are encouraging people to come out of their comfort zone and think about the political system. We cannot just sit idle. We need to rise against the political parties that field criminals,” he said. On the other hand, a few of his fellow undergrad techies are part of a team that calls up people asking them to vote for AAP. The campaign for AAP is just another manifestation of the politically charged atmosphere that pervades the IIT’s Kanpur campus. A student said at least six professors bearing allegiance to the RSS have been campaigning for the BJP in the institute. “ We had shakhas ( RSS training programme) on the campus till recently. But it was discontinued after some unpleasant incidents,” said the final- year student who didn’t want to be named. “ But the best part of the story,” he added, “ is that BJP and AAP supporters freely discuss their political leanings on the campus.”