E-Paper
LU student leaders who graduated to active politics
LU has produced prominent political leaders from student politics, including CMs and deputy CMs. No student union polls for 20 years due to court litigation.
From two Uttarakhand chief ministers to an Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister, scores of leaders who have made it big in active politics emerged from student politics as they graduated from century-old University of Lucknow (LU) that served as a nursery of student politics.
Even two Mafiosi-turned-politicians also graduated from LU’s student politics. But for nearly 20 years, there have been no student union polls as the matter is in court. “Student union elections should be held on campuses but due to litigation, there have been no elections for nearly two decades now,” said deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, a former LUSU president.
Pathak first served as law minister in Yogi 1.0 and he later became one of two deputy chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh in Yogi 2.0. Pathak joined the BJP in 2017 after quitting the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Following the 2017 polls in which the BJP came to power in U.P., he became an MLA from Lucknow central seat.
Known as a prominent Brahmin leader, Pathak is the party’s star campaigner in the ongoing general election. Pushkar Singh Dhami, the youngest chief minister of Uttarakhand, pursued his BA (1993-96), a diploma in public administration (1996-97), masters in human resource management (1997-1999) and LLB (2002) from Lucknow University.
He took part in a number of political conventions of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the university and was also the president of LU’s ABVP unit. His predecessor Harish Rawat was also a product of LU’s student politics. He did his BA and LLB from the university in 1970s.
Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha candidate from Lucknow Ravidas Mehrotra was an active student leader of LU. He was elected LUSU general secretary in 1978. Atul Kumar Anjaan, national secretary, Communist Party of India and general secretary, All India Kisan Sabha, also graduated from LU student politics.
Anjaan won the post of president of Lucknow University Students’ Union in 1978. A gifted orator in half-a-dozen languages, Anjaan was one of the main leaders of the police-PAC revolt of U.P. He even spent four years and nine months in jail during his political journey.
Rakesh Singh Rana was LUSU general secretary in 1988 and was elected LUSU president in 1992-93. He is a former SP MLA. Another former (in 1998) LUSU president Santosh Singh is a BJP MLC. Likewise, former LUSU vice president Arvind Kumar Singh was its elected president in 1995-96. He is an SP MLC and a former Rajya Sabha MP.
Arvind Kumar Singh ‘Gope’, who was elected LUSU president in 1993-94, was a minister in SP rule. Similarly, Gopal Rai, a minister in Delhi government, also graduated from LU student politics in mid 1990s.
Moreover, mafia don Dhananjay Singh is a former student leader who was elected MLA twice from Rari constituency, now known as Malhani in Jaunpur, as an independent. He also won the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from Jaunpur on a BSP ticket.
SP MLA from Goshainganj, Abhay Singh, is a former LU student leader. Once friends, now Dhananjay and Abhay are arch rivals. They were into student politics 1994 onwards but never contested student union polls. State transport minister Daya Shankar Singh has been an LUSU general secretary and president in the past.
Shailesh Singh Shailu, former LUSU president (in 2002-03), had contested assembly election on a BSP ticket from Lucknow. He recently contested by-election from Gainsari seat on a BJP ticket. Ashish Singh Ashu, a former student leader, was twice elected MLA from Bilgram-Mallanwan seat in Hardoi.
Former SP MLC Anand Bhadauria also graduated from LU student politics. Pawan Pandey (Tej Narain Pandey) was elected LUSU vice president in 2004 and was a minister of state during the SP rule in 2012.
Bajrangi Singh Bajju was elected LUSU president when the poll was last held in 2005-06. He is now a secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Gorakhpur Kshetra. Former LUSU general secretary Ram Singh Rana (2004) and former LUSU president Rajpal Kashyap (2004) were given minister rank as they were appointed chairman of commissions.
Pooja Shukla, former LU student leader, had contested the 2022 assembly election as an SP candidate from the Lucknow (north) seat. And last but not the least, state minority welfare minister Danish Ansari was into LU student politics and worked as an ABVP worker there.
