Student power, in all colours, is flying high in the ongoing local body elections in the State with political parties fielding a considerable number of candidates from their campus wings, marking a significant change in poll traditions.
The CPI(M) has fielded 48 leaders of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in the polls while the Congress has found 79 candidates from the Kerala Students’ Union (KSU). The Muslim Students Federation (MSF) of the Indian Union Muslim League has fielded 47 leaders, while 14 from the All India Students’ Federation (AISF), the CPI’s student wing, are also in the fray.
The student wings say they have all been given due consideration by their party leaderships this time compared to previous polls. Among the student leaders, KSU Thiruvananthapuram district vice-president Vyshna Suresh’s candidature has already grabbed wide attention following the controversy over her voting right which she had to get reinstated through a High Court intervention amid her campaign.
Of the 79 candidates from the KSU, 22 are its State office-bearers. KSU’s State leaders in the fray include general secretaries Mubas Odakkaly and Arunima M. Kurup, the latter being one of the two transgender candidates of the Congress.
