Rahul asks Lucknow students to join politics

LUCKNOW - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Tuesday asked the youth to join politics for development of the country but steered away from controversial questions on corruption and inflation during his interaction with a cross-section of students here.

Gandhi faced a volley of questions during his interaction with the students in a programme organised by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) here, but chose to deflect many of the queries.

“The Congress general secretary exhorted us to participate in politics that would subsequently help in formulation of policies for the country’s progress,” said a student, who participated in the interactive session.

“The interaction lasted for around 45 minutes. During the session, students sought Gandhi’s views on other issues like reservation, the education scenario, challenges before the country. However, Gandhi preferred to give brief answers that he mostly linked with the role of youth in politics for all-round development of the country,” he added.

Only photo journalists were allowed to enter the Ravindralaya auditorium while Gandhi was speaking.

Some students who were not allowed to enter the venue shouted slogans against Gandhi as he came out after the meeting and headed to Jhansi. Gandhi, who has been criss-crossing the country addressing youths and urging them to join politics, will head to Agra after Jhansi.

On Monday, the Congress MP from Amethi interacted with students at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi and the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) in Allahabad.

In Allahabad and Varanasi, Gandhi had to face protests from the youth wings of different political outfits for “not being serious towards restoration of students’ union polls in various central universities in Uttar Pradesh”.

According to police, around 40-50 youths were detained in Allahabad for creating trouble during Gandhi’s visit.