Is Congress students’ wing NSUI shifting to a "Left" ideology?

New Delhi: A major rebellion by candidates within the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the Congress party’s students’ wing, is being cited as one of the possible reasons for the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) historic victory in the just-concluded Panjab University Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC) elections.

ABVP candidate Gaurav Veer Sohal won the PUCSC president’s post by 488 votes. This is the first time in the university’s 48-year history that ABVP has secured the top post.

According to Congress sources, Kanhaiya Kumar, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of NSUI, finalised the list of candidates despite recommendations from various quarters. There had been suggestions to field Sumit Sharma - who ultimately finished second for president - against Sohal; instead, Kumar chose Parabjot Singh Gill as the NSUI presidential nominee.

As per the declared results, Sohal polled 3,148 votes, Sharma 2,660, and Gill 1,359. Some Congress leaders claimed the outcome might have been different had Sharma run as the official NSUI candidate.

Sharma went on to form his own Students’ Front after he was not picked, further splitting the vote, party functionaries said.

Following the defeat, NSUI national president Varun Choudhary relieved Dilip Choudhary of all responsibilities in the Chandigarh unit, citing incorrect feedback on prospective candidates.

Inside the party, opinions on Kanhaiya Kumar’s stewardship are divided. Some Congress leaders argue that, as a former Communist Party of India (CPI) leader, he is still adapting to the Congress’s organisational style and that his approach has unsettled parts of the cadre.

They also allege he has inducted several student leaders from Left-aligned organisations into NSUI and given them key responsibilities, which, they say, has frustrated long-time Congress workers. On this basis, a section of the leadership contends that NSUI is slowly tilting towards a “Leftist” line, a characterisation others in the party dispute.

Several leaders further warn that what they describe as excessive central interference could hurt NSUI in the upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections.

With only a few days to go for DUSU polls, Kanhaiya Kumar issued an office note initiating interviews to select a new NSUI national president in place of the incumbent Varun Choudhary.

The note, circulated by Anshul Trivedi (AICC national coordinator for NSUI), said the process of appointing the next national president had begun and invited applications from national office-bearers, state presidents, national coordinators and student leaders active in constitutional campaigns.

Critics within the party argue that the timing has disrupted DUSU preparations and undermined the sitting president’s authority; others maintain the exercise is routine and aimed at strengthening the organisation.