LEFT STUDENT GROUPS PROTEST AGAINST ABVP’S ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH PRESENCE AT PRESIDENCY UNIVERSITY
November 3, 2026
KOLKATA, November 3, 2026: Left-wing student organisations on Tuesday staged a protest at Presidency University on College Street, opposing what they described as the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) attempts to establish a presence on the campus.
The demonstration was organised by members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) and the All India Students’ Association (AISA), affiliated respectively with the CPI(M), SUCI (Communist) and CPI(ML) Liberation.
The protesting students asserted that the university campus should not become a platform for right-wing political activities. They also raised concerns over what they described as attempts to silence dissenting voices within the institution.
Carrying flags and placards, the demonstrators raised slogans during the protest and demanded that student union elections be conducted at the earliest. They argued that the absence of elections had deprived students of an elected representative body and called for the restoration of democratic student representation on campus.
According to SFI's Presidency University spokesperson Beetan Islam, more than 200 students participated in the demonstration. He said the protesting organisations had also submitted a memorandum to the university authorities outlining their concerns and demands.
The protest comes amid continuing political tensions at Presidency University over the presence and activities of student organisations affiliated with rival ideological formations. The ABVP, which is affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has been seeking to expand its organisational presence at the institution, drawing opposition from Left-affiliated student groups.
The latest demonstration reflects the continuing dispute over political activity, student representation and the character of campus spaces at one of Kolkata's prominent educational institutions
