“I am the first girl from my village in Bihar to move out for higher studies. But now, neighbours and relatives back home want their children to study in Jawaharlal Nehru (JNU),” said 22-year-old Priyanka Bharti, the youngest presidential candidate in this year’s JNU students’ union elections.
Born and brought up in Patna’s Fatuha village, Bharti first stepped into JNU in 2016 for a Bachelors’ degree in German Studies from the School of Languages, Literature and Culture Studies. She is now pursuing her masters in the same.
“I remember shivering when a boy sat next to me in class for the first time. I discovered pizza and was pleasantly surprised when a friend recharged my mobile using his phone. JNU has been life-changing,” she said.
She is the president of Godavari hostel. “My mess fee was waived because of the post. Assuming the same rule would be applicable for hostels, I had contested hostel elections,” she said, laughing.
“We are BPL card holders. There was no money to support higher education. We get a little rent and my father does some paperwork jobs but it is not enough,” she said. While she had cleared the Joint Entrance Examination, lack of financial assistance obstructed her from pursuing engineering.
Ask her about the switch from engineering to German and the response is quick. “I wanted to enrol in an affordable professional course which would provide job opportunities after graduation,” she said. “I am glad I chose this subject because I learnt a lot about Nazism culture and politics which helps me understand the present political atmosphere better,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}Ask her about the switch from engineering to German and the response is quick. “I wanted to enrol in an affordable professional course which would provide job opportunities after graduation,” she said. “I am glad I chose this subject because I learnt a lot about Nazism culture and politics which helps me understand the present political atmosphere better,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}A staunch believer of socialism, Bharti said she joined the Chhatra Rashtriya Janata Dal (CRJD) as it is closer to her own ideology. “The binary of left and right must be broken. We are here to assert our ideas and will continue doing that,” she said.
Her campaign promises include ensuring gender justice and proper implementation of reservation, minority rights, fighting caste and racial discrimination, facilitate metro passes for students, and ensuring the campus is inclusive and accessible to those with disabilities.