Congress’ new darling & the face of youth anger: what Neha Bora’s rise means for flailing Left

New Delhi: The student-youth agitation has brought All India Students Association (AISA) president Neha Bora to the national political centrestage. On 12 October, as the INDIA bloc marched towards the Supreme Court with a petition against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen shielding Bora from a crush of cameras and protesters. The moment captured how far the student leader’s profile has travelled beyond campus politics.

For the Left, which has seen its electoral base shrinking fast even as its student organisations remain active on university campuses, Bora’s rise raises a question: can the agitation help it regain lost political ground?