NEW DELHI: A delegation of elected student leaders from universities across the country, led by National Students' Union of India (NSUI) National President Varun Choudhary, met Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi today, demanding his intervention and support for the immediate restoration of student union elections in all colleges and universities.

A memorandum was handed over to Gandhi, which accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of "systematically dismantling" student unions to "silence" progressive voices.

"Since the implementation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations in 2006, there has been a rise in participation from OBC, Dalit, Adivasi, minority, and women students challenging the status quo. In response, the regime has pushed to ban elections, fearing empowered student leadership," a statement issued by the NSUI media department read.

NSUI claimed that in almost all central, state universities and colleges elections have either been banned or indefinitely delayed. It further accused the government of "using legal tactics and administrative interference" to block elections in central universities, including Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Hyderabad Central University.

"Even in campuses like DU, JNU, and HCU, where elections take place, the government uses legal tactics and administrative interference to block and dismantle them. Wherever elections happen, students from marginalised backgrounds lead and question the government this is what the BJP wants to shut down," the statement read.

The demands made by NSUI highlight the need for immediate restoration of student union elections across all campuses, followed by a student union elections bill to make campus elections mandatory and legally protected.

Labelling the National Education Policy (NEP) as "anti-student", NSUI said that there was lack of proper implementation of reservations for OBC, Scheduled Caste, and Scheduled Tribe in higher education.

After the meeting, Varun Choudhary said, "This is a fight for student democracy. Rahul Gandhi heard us with seriousness and assured full support in Parliament and beyond. The suppression of student unions is an attack on the Constitution."