In fight against corruption, only BJP, AAP back students

ALLAHABAD: Amidst the ongoing slugfest among political parties, students are agitating under the banner of Bhrashtachar Mukti Morcha to weed corruption out of state's premier government recruitment body, Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPCS).
Ordinarily, political parties waste no time jumping into the arena on the slightest of inclination to draw political mileage from such movements.But this time, the situation was entirely different as the band of agitators found little support from the political class, thus generating debate in political circles on who stands against corruption and who does not.
The first to take the call was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and it's leaders including former state minister, Dr N K S Gaur, Sirathu MLA, Keshav Prasad Maurya and national co-convenor, Panchayati Raj cell, Yogesh Shukla, who joined the forum of students and went all out criticising the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) government in the state. This came as a shot in the arm for protestors who hit the streets.
While two senior leaders Gaur and Maurya managed to leave the spot before the situation went out of control, their colleague Yogesh Shukla was not so lucky and was arrested and lodged at Naini central jail with charges ranging from rioting to attempt to murder slapped against him and other 28 arrested persons.
Lending support to the cause were volunteers and leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP). Donning Gandhi caps with the slogan 'Mujhe Swarajya Chahiye', they also faced the fury of the police force countering stone pelting by rioting students. Many among them sustained injuries while some leaders and volunteers were whisked away by police.
But apart from these, leaders from no other political party, be it the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) or the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), shared the stage with protestors on an issue which may perhaps set the tone for the next general elections, said an old timer Girija Nandan Joshi. This despite two senior leaders from Congress and SP occupying senior positions as heads of departments of Allahabad University, remarked Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha regional in charge, Shashank Shekhar Pandey.
Equally apathetic is the fact that many leaders from the two political outfits are former presidents of Allahabad University Students Union and another member of their ilk was a former minister in the BSP government. Defending the Congress, a regional unit member Kishore Varshney said "our party, led by our leader Rahul Gandhi, has always raised voice against corruption and there is no question of compromising on it. As regards the issue of students and UPPSC, we are examining various options, he said.