Jaipur: The Congress Friday appointed Vinod Jakhar president of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), making him the first person from Rajasthan to hold the post. The order for his appointment was issued by Congress general secretary K C Venugopal. He succeeds Varun Chaudhary as the student union’s president. Jakhar started his political journey in 2014 from student politics, when he was elected as president of Rajasthan College. In 2018, he contested the Rajasthan University Student Union polls as an independent candidate and became the president despite failing to get the NSUI’s backing. He joined the NSUI after winning the election and worked as a functionary before eventually becoming the NSUI state president, the post he has held up till now.A Dalit student activist, Jakhar is considered close to Congress functionary Sachin Pilot, and his appointment is being considered significant in terms of the internal political dynamics of the Congress party.Speaking to the media in Delhi after the announcement, Jakhar said, “I will perform my duties with utmost honesty as the party has trusted me with this post. I will continue to raise student issues across universities as we can see the budget for education being reduced gradually”.“I will continue to fight against hatred as educational institutions are not the place to worship weapons. Protesting this is important and in line with the thoughts of senior party leaders like Rahul Gandhi,” Jakhar added.In September last year, Jakhar was arrested for protesting a ‘Shastra Puja’ programme organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at the University of Rajasthan, where senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Nimbaram was the chief guest. He was jailed on charges of vandalism and was in prison for 17 days – an episode considered by many party observers as key to his elevation as NSUI president.During his imprisonment, Jakhar’s family members and senior party functionaries like Pilot, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra, and then NSUI president Varun Chaudhary were not allowed to meet him.
