Reported by: Jainendra Kumar
As the Supreme Court march ended and Rahul Gandhi and other senior INDIA bloc leaders went inside for paperwork related to a petition, NSUI office-bearers began raising questions in the ‘Delhi Coordination’ WhatsApp group. A member then changed the group’s name to ‘WE THE Chhotu’. Another message read, “Not a single one from NSUI has been able to become a leader in eyes of anyone- either the leaders of our own party or the citizens in general.
“Are we only here to gather crowds?” some of them asked. What are we working for exactly?”, while yet another praised Neha Bora as “a remarkable leader” but expressed unhappiness over her being central while waving to a “the crowd gathered by the NSUI”.
The prominence given to Neha Bora, president of the Left-aligned All India Students’ Association (AISA), on Congress platforms led to resentment among office-bearers of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the party’s own wing, with a disgruntled member renaming an official WhatsApp group to ‘WE THE Chhotu’ for three days, ‘chhotu’ in Hindi here denoting ‘small’ or ‘errand-runner’. Others spoke on the subject too. Despite the NSUI’s displeasure, Bora was seen at Rahul Gandhi’s residence the next day. The Congress had also sent an invitation to Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), but he could not attend as he was out of Delhi. The tea was followed by a press conference at which Bora was also given a chance to speak. On the path shown by our leader Rahul Gandhi, we will keep fighting this government and the ideology of the RSS-BJP, and further strengthen the student movement. NSUI president Vinod Jakhar denied any resentment over Neha Bora.
After the attempted marches to the Election Commission, Jantar Mantar, Rajghat, Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Supreme Court, Rahul Gandhi on the evening of October 13 invited all INDIA bloc MPs, some social activists and a few student leaders, including Bora, to tea at his residence and thanked them.
Sources told NDTV the name was changed back only after NSUI office-bearers met Rahul Gandhi and their grievance was set aside. No one, however, raised these issues in front of Rahul Gandhi, sources told NDTV. Asked why they did not complain directly to the leader, an NSUI office-bearer said, “All our pain went away the moment we met our leader, whether it was the police batons or the ‘Chhotu’ pain. Congress media in-charge Pawan Khera said the Congress is a platform for every voice that raises people’s concerns.
One was Rahul’s sister, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and the one on his right was Neha Bora. Bora was also seen in the bus that carried top leaders, and later on the truck where a select few led by Rahul stood amid a sea of fellow protesters. NSUI leadership was there too, including national president Vinod Jakhar.
On October 12, as INDIA bloc leaders marched to the Supreme Court to raise the issue of alleged electoral fraud, Bora was one of two women who walked in front and on whose shoulders Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi rested his hands.
