NSUI forms Northeast cell to woo votebank

Prompted by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) has set up a Northeast cell to woo more than one lakh students from the region's eight states in Delhi. Sanjib Kr Baruah and Aurangzeb Naqshbandi report. Building base

Prompted by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) has set up a Northeast cell to woo more than one lakh students from the region's eight states in Delhi.

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The move by the Congress party's student wing comes a year after the BJP had set up the Northeast Sampark (contact) cell to build its base among the ever-increasing student population from the Northeast.

The NSUI's Northeast cell, comprising 11 members, will operate out of its Raisina Road in the Capital.

"Representatives of various Delhi-based Northeast student organisations will meet Gandhi soon, who is taking keen interest in this regard," said Sanjoy Takam, Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh.

Takam along with party official Girish Chodankar has been entrusted with the task of implementing the decision.

As a first step, the cell has arranged for an interactive session between Gandhi and students from the Northeast in Delhi on November 4. The support of Northeastern students is said to have been crucial for NSUI in clinching the president's post in Delhi University elections this year. "Such a platform will be apt to air issues and problems facing the community in the capital," Takam said.

The total population of people from the region, including students, is estimated to be about five lakh. Five years ago, it was just about 80,000.

"It is good that the Congress has also decided to set up such a cell. It is high time that we pay attention to our people who are being looked upon as foreigners in their own country," said Sunil Deodhar who leads the BJP's Northeast Sampark Cell.