What makes young voters tick? Trying to find the pulse of the youth in coal town and Bokaro, former cricketer and Opposition grand alliance nominee for Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat Kirti Azad on Tuesday met student leaders of constituents of the grand alliance at the Congress office at Housing Colony here.

The hour-long meeting from 9.30am, in which Azad was accompanied by Dhanbad district Congress president Brajendra Prasad Singh, saw student leaders candidly airing their concerns. In turn, they were also told to motivate youths to turn up at the polling booths on May 12.

Talking to the media later, Azad said, “We discussed problems faced by students who decide the nation’s future.”

Getting specific, he said they spoke on the failure of two-time BJP MP P.N. Singh to solve a burning issue among students here, the shifting of RSP College Jharia to distant Baliapur under Sindri Assembly constituency. Students also wondered why no IIM or AIIMS was allotted to Dhanbad. Some students also wanted to know why no airport was allotted to Dhanbad, especially when a large number of outstation students study in IIT(ISM).

District president of the Congress’s National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Avirav Singh said they also told the leaders that Coal Belt students faced an acute scarcity of faculty. Students, especially girls, also faced the hassle of getting daily commute that was safe yet affordable. “When RSP College Jharia was shifted to a remote location of Belgarhia in Baliapur block, did anyone wonder how tough daily commute would become for students?” Singh said. He added there was hardly any space in the new Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University.

District president of the Marxist Coordination Committee students’ wing Biru Anand Singh said they pledged support to Azad but requested him to set up a central varsity, airport and AIIMS in his constituency if voted to power. District president of JVM students’ wing Manoj Rawani added they were united in their support to Azad.

Nominations

In all, 11 candidates filed nominations for the Dhanbad Parliamentary seat on Tuesday, the last day to file papers, taking the total number of candidates to 28 as of now. Scrutiny of papers will be held on Wednesday while the last date to withdraw is April 26 . Among notables, the daughter-in-law of Jharia royal family Madhavi Singh filed her papers on a Trinamul ticket on Tuesday.