National

School Of Saffron Etiquette

Many BJP leaders have had their stint with the ABVP. It's 50 years old and still a bit unruly.

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School Of Saffron Etiquette
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ABVP cadres take up issues such as terrorism, the plight of Hindu refugees from Kashmir, infiltration from Bangladesh and so on. Its most illustrious old boys are Arun Jaitley, who was once president of the Delhi University student union, and Bal Apte, former ABVP president and now one of the BJP general secretaries on loan from theRSS. Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar and Ravi Shankar Prasad are senior leaders who began their political career in the ABVP. So too Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan.

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Although the ABVP describes itself as the "largest students organisation in the world", this is debatable. What is not is that the ABVP has grown to become one of the premier student bodies in India along with the Congress' nsui and the CPI(M)'s SFI. In Andhra Pradesh, ABVP cadres have been strongly opposed to the Naxalites with close to 25 of their activists paying with their life due to Naxal violence in recent years.

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In states where the BJP is either in power or a strong opposition, a floating student body joins the ABVP—but the core is always made up ofRSS believers. Ideologically motivated teachers have also played a part in building up the ABVP in many states.

In 1998, the ABVP celebrated its 50th anniversary with functions across the country. Once again its great commitment to nationalistic stereotypes of the variety that appeal to the Sangh parivar were stressed. But all the ideological objectives apart, the ABVP is as prone to lumpenism and muscle-wielding like other student bodies in India. The recent incidents in Ujjain involving the ABVP is a stark example.

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