New Delhi, March 17 Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan on Tuesday strongly advocated for holding student union elections in all educational institutions, currently limited to only a few universities, arguing that prominent leaders have emerged from student politics.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Khan said a very large number of students participated in the country's freedom struggle, and many sacrificed their lives.
Students also participated in large numbers in Jayaprakash Narayan's 'total revolution' or Sampoorna Kranti in the 1970s.
The SP member also recalled that when he was a student, elections used to take place in almost all universities.
In those days, student politics was called the nursery of democracy, and student organizations were the primary unit of the parliamentary system.
Khan said several former members of the Rajya Sabha, including Arun Jaitley and Sharad Yadav, emerged from student politics.
Also, several sitting members, including Nirmala Sitharaman, JP Nadda, Syed Naseer Hussain, Mukul Balkrishna Wasnik, and Manoj Jha, were prominent student leaders, he added.
Khan further said the number of universities in the country has increased significantly, but student union elections are taking place in only a few.
He lamented that now, student leaders are not emerging, but only rich, powerful and former bureaucrats are making lateral entry in politics.
Khan was General Secretary of Jamia Millia Islamia Student Union (1984-85).
In her Zero Hour mention, Congress member Rajani Patil spoke about protests and demonstrations by farmers and students, and suggested the use of police force be resorted to only as the last option.
She said there should be a liberal policy towards peaceful protests and demonstrations.
Also, arrangements should be made for institutional dialogue with all parties.