A major membership initiative by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh faced unexpected resistance at a government college in Indore—not from the opposition, but from the ABVP, a student organization affiliated with the RSS. The ABVP protested against the drive, arguing that “temples of learning should not become hotbeds of politics.”

Chanting slogans like “Jab jab chhatra bola hai, raj singhasan dola hai” (whenever students speak, the throne shakes), ABVP members demonstrated against the college principal at Government Holkar Science College, while Indore-3 MLA Golu Shukla and BJP Indore city president Gaurav Randive attempted to negotiate with the students.

Ultimately, Principal Suresh T. Silawat issued a written directive stating that “no political event will occur” on college grounds “without the ABVP’s consent.”

The BJP aims to enroll 100 members at each of the 64,871 booths across Madhya Pradesh. On Tuesday, as ABVP students attended classes, they noticed BJP workers entering the campus for the membership drive.

ABVP Indore city secretary Ritesh Patel explained to The Indian Express, “We noticed some BJP workers conducting membership drives and inquired about it, only to find out that the principal had given them permission. When he said we couldn’t deny them access, we started protesting.”

Patel added, “We argued that if the BJP is allowed today, tomorrow another party will come. This place should be a temple of learning, not a political arena.”

Another senior ABVP member stated, “While there may be ideological common ground between the ABVP and BJP, that doesn’t grant them access to our campuses. We protested at four other colleges upon learning about the membership drives and coordinated with members in other districts to prevent BJP from entering college premises.”

In response, senior BJP leaders in Indore and Bhopal claimed that the “misunderstanding” had been cleared up. MLA Shukla noted, “The ABVP and BJP are aligned. They didn’t truly oppose us. We’ve resolved the issue; it was likely a misunderstanding regarding workers entering campus.”

Randive reported that the BJP’s membership drive in Indore was successful, bringing in 5 lakh new members. He remarked, “This incident was a misunderstanding. The ABVP operates within the campus, while we were outside. They have their own position, and we’ve communicated our intention to conduct membership drives outside the college.”

BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja affirmed that the ABVP will not oppose the membership drive, asserting, “ABVP is our student body. There are no issues now.”