Rahul Gandhi has appointed Vinod Jakhar as the new president of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI). Jakhar has served as the Rajasthan University Students' Union (RUSU) state president for the last two years. In 2018, he became the first Dalit president of RUSU after contesting as an independent candidate.
NSUI President Selection Process
The selection process for the NSUI president was conducted over two days this week. Fifteen candidates from across the country participated in a group discussion and were interviewed by Rahul Gandhi.
Following the discussions, he selected Vinod Jakhar for the post. Jakhar had earlier taken part in the presidential selection process and had been interviewed twice during the previous rounds.
Jakhar was also involved in a major protest at Rajasthan University against the RSS's Shastra Pujan programme, following which he was jailed.
In 2018, after the NSUI did not nominate him for the Rajasthan University Students' Union elections, Jakhar contested independently and went on to win the president's post.
The appointment comes amid reported differences within the organisation's leadership. Varun Chaudhary, who served as the NSUI president until now, had earlier been backed by Kanhaiya Kumar, the party's in-charge for the student wing. However, internal disagreements led to fresh applications being invited for the post in September last year, though the process did not move ahead at the time.
Sources indicate that in the latest round of selection, Kanhaiya Kumar was unable to secure the appointment of a candidate of his choice as the new NSUI president.
