NSUI activists court arrest to protest Univ poll ban in UP

Lucknow, Sep 17 (UNI) Activists of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) today courted arrest to protest the decision of the Mayawati government to ban students' union elections in Uttar Pradesh.

A large number of police personnel stopped the NSUI activists from marching to Raj Bhawan and arrested them near the UP Congress headquarters.

The NSUI activists, led by national president Nadim Javed and representatives from Delhi University students union, marched towards the Raj Bhawan to hand over Governor T V Rajeswar a memorandum against the state government's decision. But when police stopped them from moving towards the high security area, they squatted on the road and courted arrest.

''When the elections can be held as per the recommendations of the Lyngdoh committee report, then what was the point in banning the elections,'' Javed said while talking to reporters. He claimed that since the Lyngdoh committee had the backing of the Supreme Court, the state government could have easily held elections.

The state government had recently banned students' union elections claiming that several criminals were involved in the process.

''Several of today's top political leaders were once student union leaders...it is one platform that grooms people into becoming leaders,'' he said.

The governor, has asked a small group of NSUI activists to meet him wth the memorandum.

UNI