OU students in poll fray to expose BRS failures and letting down youth

Hyderabad: Determined to expose the manner the BRS government has failed to honour its promises to the student community and youth, in particular, and the lapses in the conduct of TSPSC exams, around 60 students from the Osmania University’s joint action committee (OU-JAC) are entering the electoral battle in Gajwel and Kamareddy, which Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is contesting, and Munugode.

Unemployed youth, claiming to have been ignored in the last nine years, are also embarking on a door-to-door campaign to ‘enlighten’ voters against the BRS government’s misnomers and its acts of omissions and commissions. This is adding to the Opposition parties seeking to highlight the same issues besides assuring them of jobs on coming to power.

As per the latest data, over seven lakh first-time voters are set to exercise their franchise, while those under 35 years account for over 30 per cent of the state’s electorate of 3.14 crore.

K. Satyanarayana Prajapathi, a mathematics Ph.D. scholar from OU, is contesting against the Chief Minister in Gajwel and also in Munugode, from where he hails, with the sole aim of drawing attention to the issues of the unemployed.

“Let's be practical, there's no way I can defeat KCR, but I can cut into his votes. We're speaking to young voters and urging them against voting for the BRS,” he said.

He said that hundreds of students were back in their hometowns to rope in at least 100 young voters each towards their ‘mission’.

“We are expecting to influence at least 20,000 voters. We hope youth will do the talking with the most potent weapon in their armoury-vote,” he said.

Another student said, “We know not every unemployed youth can be guaranteed a job; all we ask is for the vacancies to be filled so people don't waste their prime years waiting in vain. Jobs are no longer our request, but a demand.”

A senior OU professor, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that government job aspirants were frustrated by the perceived indifference towards students who had participated in the statehood agitation, with high hopes of getting employment. He said that students have been bringing to the knowledge of their parents and villagers about the anti-student policies of the government.

Sharath Naik, president of the Girijana Sakti organisation, said that nearly 600 fellow members are distributing pamphlets that highlight the failures of the BRS government. He regretted that all political parties were ignoring the unemployed lot as none had addressed youth-related issues in their respective manifestos.

Y. Sunil, president of the recently launched Vidyarthi Rajakeeya Party, said that OU students will fight on behalf of youth and students.

AISF secretary Satya Nelli said that student organisations were working hard to explain the hollow promises of the BRS government. This is especially aimed at educating the first-time voters.