Students’ Federation of India (SFI) members Sunday said they would continue fighting for students union elections until the Trinamool Congress-led state government conducts the polls.
SFI is the students wing of CPI (M).
They made the statement during a rally at AJC Bose Road to mark the 10th death anniversary of Sudipto Gupta – an SFI leader who allegedly died while being taken by the police to jail after a demonstration in Kolkata in 2013.
SFI state president Pratikur Rahman said, “The TMC government does not want to conduct elections. Their workers have forcefully grabbed all students unions and are now stealing money from there. We will not allow that.”
In February 2013, during the students union elections, violence broke out in the Garden Reach area of Kolkata and a policeman was shot dead. Following the violence, the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government announced a state-wide suspension of student polls for six months.
In 2020, students union polls were held only in four universities due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source: Indian Express
