The students have been demanding the 65-acre campus that the state government had promised them in 2007.
Days ahead of the municipal corporation polls, leaders from various political parties are rushing to the Govind Ballabh (GB) Pant government engineering college in south Delhi's Okhla, where students have been protesting from over a month.
The students have been demanding the 65-acre campus that the state government had promised them in 2007.
After 36 days of agitation, Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari met the students on Tuesday and promised them of every possible help. Later in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also held a meeting with a delegation of protesters at his residence. Besides, JD (U), BSP, and AAP candidates also visited the campus recently to extend their support.
The college, which has been operating in an abandoned hostel block of a government polytechnic institute, has 840 students enrolled in 12 courses but there are only nine classrooms to accommodate them. Scores of students have been sleeping in their classrooms as a mark of protest since March 7.
"The campus is currently confined in a 2.4 acre abandoned hostel building. It was originally planned to be built on over 60 acres of land with ultramodern infrastructure," a first-year student said. "All we are demanding is a normal campus with basic facilities, such as hostels, auditoriums, labs, playground, and sports equipment," he added.
Calling the visits by politicos a "strategic" move ahead of the civic polls, Rishabh Dev, another student at the college, said: "Suddenly, we are receiving overwhelming support from various political parties. We made several failed attempts to meet the Chief Minister in the past. Nobody came forward to support us, following which Assistant Professor Joshil Abraham went on an indefinite hunger strike on April 5."
Meanwhile, during their meeting with Kejriwal, the students briefed him about the matter, to which he replied that "he was not aware of our issue". "It's really sad that even after our 36 days of protest and 7 days of hunger strike, the CM wasn't aware of the issue," Abraham said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=tracking}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "DNA")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=tracking}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}