6-term MP from Gujarat Mansukh Vasava, who was vocal on tribal issues, quits BJP

Agencies

December 29, 2020

Gujarat BJP MP and former Union minister Mansukh Vasava, who has been vocal on tribal issues, on Tuesday quit the party and said he would resign from Lok Sabha in the budget session of Parliament.

Vasava had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week seeking withdrawal of a Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notification declaring 121 villages of Narmada district as eco sensitive zone.

A six-term MP from Bharuch, Vasava in his letter to Gujarat BJP President C R Paatil said, "I am resigning so that the image of the party is not damaged because of my mistakes. I have been a loyal worker of the party, so please forgive me."

In the letter to Paatil dated December 28, Vasava said he will resign as Bharuch MP after meeting the Lok Sabha Speaker during the budget session of Parliament.

Vasava said he tried his best to be loyal to the party and assimilate the party's values in his life, adding he is human and prone to mistakes.

"I am ultimately a human and humans tend to commit mistakes. To ensure that the party does not suffer due to my mistakes, I resign from the party, whose forgiveness I seek," the tribal leader said in the letter to Paatil.

BJP statespokesperson Bharat Pandya said the party has received the resignation letter through social media.

"Paatil has spoken to him and assured him that any issue he has will be resolved. Vasava is a senior MP from Gujarat and we will resolve all his issues," Pandya said.

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Campus politics: DKS pushes to restore student elections in Karnataka banned since 1989

News Network

November 26,2025

Bengaluru, Nov 26: Karnataka is taking its first concrete steps towards lifting a three-decade-old ban on student elections in colleges and universities. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced Wednesday that the state government will form a small committee to study the reintroduction of campus polls, a practice halted in 1989 following incidents of violence.

Speaking at a 'Constitution Day' event organised by the Karnataka Congress, Mr. Shivakumar underscored the move's aim: nurturing new political leadership from the grassroots.

"Recently, (Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to me and Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) asking us to think about restarting student elections," Shivakumar stated. "I'm announcing today that we'll form a small committee and seek a report on this."

Student elections were banned in Karnataka in 1989, largely due to concerns over violence and the infiltration of political party affiliates into campus life. The ban effectively extinguished vibrant student bodies and the pipeline of young leaders they often produced.

Mr. Shivakumar, who also serves as the Karnataka Congress president, said that former student leaders will be consulted to "study the pros and cons" of the re-introduction.

Acknowledging the history of the ban, he added, "There were many criminal activities taking place back then. We’ll see how we can conduct (student) elections by regulating such criminal activities."

The Deputy CM reminisced about his own journey, which began on campus. He recalled his political activism at Sri Jagadguru Renukacharya College leading to his first Assembly ticket in 1985 at the age of 23. "That's how student leadership was at the time. Such leadership has gone today. College elections have stopped," he lamented, adding that for many, college elections were "like a big movement" where leaders were forged.

The move, driven by the Congress high command's push to cultivate young talent, will face scrutiny from academics and university authorities who have, in the past, expressed concern that the return of polls could disrupt the peaceful academic environment and turn campuses into political battlegrounds.

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