ABVP Expands Footprint At Pro-Left Jadavpur University As BJP Targets Bengal Campuses

Jadavpur University, long regarded as one of West Bengal’s strongest Left ideological bastions, is witnessing a significant political shift as the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), BJP’s student wing, rapidly expands its presence following the party’s victory in the Assembly elections in May.  Within weeks of the change in government, RSS held its routine activities on the campus, marking a visible departure from the university’s long-standing liberal and Left-dominated political environment. ABVP leaders said the organisation is focusing on removing what it calls the corruption associated with the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) while promoting nationalism on campuses. It has launched a state-wide membership drive targeting 10 lakh students by December 2026, including two lakhs in Kolkata. ABVP, which had around 75,000 members in the state until last year, now has units in nearly 100 colleges and universities and plans to expand to over 500 campuses. It has also renewed its demand for immediate student union elections, suspended in most institutions for years. ABVP had remained inactive because campuses were dominated first by Left student organisations and later by the TMCP. They said the political transition had created greater space for alternative political views. The expansion marks a strategic shift from ABVP’s traditional strongholds in north Bengal and districts such as Purulia and Bankura towards Kolkata’s premier educational institutions. ABVP national general secretary Virendra Singh Solanki said the BJP’s victory had created an opportunity to transform the education sector and deepen student engagement. Academics said the BJP’s campus expansion reflects its effort to build organisational influence beyond electoral success.  The real measure of ABVP’s growing support will emerge only when long-pending student union elections are finally held.