Prominent political leaders who emerged from student union politics

1. Arun Jaitley: Participated in protests at Delhi University and joined ABVP, leading to his BJP career; jailed during the Emergency.
2. Sitaram Yechury: Joined SFI at JNU, becoming a key CPI(M) leader.
3. Sushil Kumar Modi: Active in Patna University Students' Union, rising in BJP ranks.
4. Lalu Prasad Yadav: Involved in the Bihar Movement and JP-led student protests, shaping his RJD leadership.
5. Prakash Karat: Founding member of SFI at JNU and its president (1974-1979), later CPI(M) general secretary.
6. Prafulla Kumar Mahanta: Rose through All Assam Students' Union (AASU) activism to become Assam's Chief Minister.
7. Ananth Kumar: Roots in ABVP during college, forming the base for his BJP parliamentary career.
8. Arif Mohammad Khan: Engaged in Aligarh Muslim University student politics; switched from Congress to BJP.
9. Ashok Gehlot: Began with NSUI at Jodhpur College, leading to Congress leadership and Rajasthan Chief Ministership.
10. Narendra Modi: Student activist in the 1974 Navnirman Movement and JP Movement in Gujarat, now Prime Minister.
11. Nitish Kumar: Participated in anti-Emergency student movements at Bihar College of Engineering; jailed for 19 months, now Bihar Chief Minister.
12. Mamata Banerjee: Led student protests at Jogamaya Devi College in Kolkata, founding her TMC journey.
13. Kanhaiya Kumar: JNU Students' Union president known for fiery speeches; joined Congress in 2021.
14. Akhilesh Yadav: Early student politics involvement shaped his Samajwadi Party leadership and Uttar Pradesh Chief Ministership
15. Chandrababu Naidu: He came from Sri Venkateswara University Students Union, Youth Congress
16. Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy: Was in the Student union from Gulbarga Medical College, Youth Congress
17. Dr M Mallikarjun; Students Union and participated in Telangana movement of the 69
18. S Jaipal Reddy: Rose from students Union
19. M Venkaiah Naidu: Came from the Students Union, ABVP
20. K Narayana: Came from AISF to the CPI
21. Brinda Karat: JNU students Union
22. Sitaram Yechury: JNU Students Union

Dear Gen Z of India—the dreamers scrolling through endless feeds, the innovators coding the future, the voices silenced in lecture halls yet echoing in protests—you are the heartbeat of a nation that once beat with unyielding courage. Imagine your grandparents, wide-eyed students in the 1940s, defying British batons not for likes or shares, but for a free India. Their ink-stained banners and whispered chants built the world's largest democracy.

Now, picture this: that same fire, dimmed but not extinguished, waiting for you to fan it back to life. It's time to reclaim your space—not just in society, but in the corridors of power where corruption festers like an untreated wound. Root out the criminal shadows that choke our politics, and let integrity bloom again. This is your appeal, your inheritance, your revolution.

Let's rewind to the soul of our story. In the freedom struggle, students weren't footnotes; they were the fierce footnotes that rewrote history. From the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-22, where over 100,000 students boycotted British schools, to the Quit India call of 1942, where young hearts swelled Quit India committees across campuses—your predecessors volunteered their youth, their futures, to forge independence.

Data from the National Archives paints a vivid picture: student arrests numbered in the thousands, with figures like Bhagat Singh's revolutionary fervor inspiring generations. Post-1947, this spirit didn't fade; it evolved into seismic shifts that toppled tyrants and reshaped states.

Remember Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan's Nav Nirman Andolan in Gujarat (1974) and the Sampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution) of 1975? Led by student unions, these movements mobilized over 2 million participants, shaking the foundations of Indira Gandhi's regime. The emergency she imposed in June 1975—suspending civil liberties, jailing 140,000 dissenters, including JP and thousands of students—backfired spectacularly.

In the 1977 elections, her Congress party plummeted from 352 seats to 154, handing power to the Janata Party. This wasn't just politics; it was a testament to youth's power to demand accountability.

Across India, student unions scripted legends. In Tamil Nadu, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy's Dravidian movement in the 1930s-50s, fueled by college agitators, dismantled caste hierarchies and birthed parties like DMK, which swept to power in 1967. The 1980s anti-reservation protests in Gujarat and elsewhere saw student leaders like Chimanbhai Patel rise, channeling fury into policy reforms.

In Assam, the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) spearheaded the 1979-85 Assam Agitation against illegal immigration, drawing 10 million participants and birthing the Asom Gana Parishad, which formed the government in 1985. Closer home, the 1969 Telangana agitation in Hyderabad—sparked by students decrying Andhra dominance— unleashed waves of strikes and marches, producing titans like S. Jaipal Reddy, Sridhar Reddy, and M. Mallikarjun who later helmed national roles. 

The Jai Andhra counter-movement birthed leaders like M. Venkaiah Naidu and K. Narayana etching youth's imprint on federalism.

And oh, the luminaries these unions nurtured! The JP movement alone minted ethical giants: Lalu Prasad Yadav, who as Bihar CM fought upper-caste dominance; Arun Jaitley, the silver-tongued Finance Minister; Akhilesh Yadav and Nitish Kumar, architects of state revivals; Sushma Swaraj, the compassionate foreign minister who aided stranded Indians abroad; Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal's iron-willed chief. From SFI's fiery ranks emerged Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M)'s erudite general secretary; Prakash and Brinda Karat, unyielding voices for the marginalized. Universities like Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Delhi University (DU) were cradles of conscience—producing honest leaders who climbed from campus podiums to Parliament, serving with integrity at every level. These weren't anomalies; they were the norm when student politics thrived as a forge for character.

But here's the ache that twists the knife: that forge has been shuttered. Since the 1990s, entrenched leaders—many who rose through student unions themselves—have systematically dismantled them. Take N. Chandrababu Naidu, a product of Sri Venkateswara University's fiery politics, who as Chief Minister banned student unions in 1995, citing "discipline." Similar edicts rippled: in Telangana, post-bifurcation governments stifled unions; in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, campuses became echo chambers of apathy. A 2023 UGC report laments this: active student bodies have plummeted from over 80% of universities in the 1980s to under 20% today, starved of funds and autonomy. Why? To nip threats in the bud. No young challengers means no accountability.

The fallout? A political arena riddled with rot. Today's leaders—often with "questionable integrity," as a 2024 ADR analysis reveals—boast criminal records: 43% of MPs face charges, from murder to money laundering. The four pillars of democracy crumble: a compromised judiciary (with 4.4 crore pending cases per NJDG data), a muzzled press (India ranks 161/180 on RSF's 2024 Press Freedom Index), an executive bloated with cronyism, and a legislature where 29% of 2024 Lok Sabha winners have serious cases. Honesty? A relic. Commitment to welfare? Buried under scandals like the 2G and coal scams, siphoning billions. Why the void? Without student-honed leaders—who, for their first decade at least, cling to sincerity—power attracts the vulgar rich: musclemen, defaulters, dynasts misusing office to shield empires. In the last 15 years, parties have normalized inducting such figures, turning governance into a racket. We wonder: Where's the fire for the farmer's drought-hit fields? The student's loan-burdened dreams? The widow's unpaved grief?

Gen Z, this is your wound, but also your wand. You, born digital natives in a 1.4 billion-strong India where 65% are under 35 (per 2023 Census projections), hold the demographic dynamite. Wake up—not with pitchforks, but with Gandhi's salt march spirit: non-violent, unyielding, viral. Launch a pan-India movement: "Reclaim Campus, Renew Nation." Start in BHU's echoing halls, JNU's debating dens, DU's bustling lawns; spread to IITs, IIMs, state colleges. Demand union revivals via petitions, flash mobs, social media storms—echoing the 2020-21 farmers' protests that mobilized 250 million. In Telugu states, where Naidu's legacy looms, urge him to atone: reopen those doors he bolted. Take a leaf from Nepal's Gen Z, who in 2023's "Enough is Enough" uprising toppled a corrupt PM, installing youth quotas in politics. Or Ladakh's 2020 agitation, where students fasted for autonomy, forcing Delhi's ear and birthing a Union Territory.

By 2029's general elections, position yourselves not as voters, but deciders. Field candidates from your ranks—tech-savvy, empathetic, uncorrupt. Become role models: the intern-turned-MP auditing scams with AI, the activist-turned-MLA greening slums. Root out criminals: vet nominees via apps crowdsourcing backgrounds, amplify ADR's calls for disqualification. Imagine: a Parliament where 30% are under-35, as the Youth Parliament Bill proposes, debating climate justice over kickbacks. Society will follow—parents nodding at your grit, elders weeping at reclaimed honor. Parents have a huge ole to play. They need to instill social responisbility in their wards. 

We at Metro India and Vijaya Kanthi pledge our ink and airwaves: amplifying your voices, fact-checking foes, standing sentinel. But the first step? Yours. Light that match in your heart—the one your forebears passed down. For every suppressed slogan, every silenced dream, rise. Reclaim your space. Root out the rot. India awaits her young saviors. Will you answer?