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45th state convention of ABVP in Lucknow Rid the society of casteism ?Kalyan Singh The 45th state convention of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which concluded in Lucknow recently, has decided to launch an extensive agitation against the anti-education and anti-student policies of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government of Uttar Pradesh. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Shri Kalyan Singh, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, called for a joint effort from all sections of the society to nip the social evil of casteism in the bud. Expressing concern over the rise of casteism, he said, ?Now, one can witness casteism in every field. Whether it is our social or political set-up, casteism has crept into every section of the society.? Without naming anyone, he said at present the card of casteism is being played by various political parties. They raise the caste issue to swell their vote-banks and try to extract political mileage. He called upon youth to stand united to weed out casteism from India. He also advocated the promulgation of a bill to check criminalisation of politics. He added that all-out efforts must be made to raise the living standards of the downtrodden and poor of the country. Shri Atul Kothari, joint organising secretary of ABVP, Shri Mahendra Kumar, Kshetriya organising secretary and Ms Mukta Sharma, national secretary, also addressed the convention. In the political resolution, the ABVP expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order condition of the state. In the resolution on education, the largest student organisation of the country severely criticised the state governor for advocating English in education. The ABVP called for identifying and expelling the anti-national elements from the college campuses and also warned the central government against providing financial aid to the minority educational institutions and indulging in Muslim appeasement. The state executive of the state was also reconstituted at the convention.

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