Lok Sabha 2019: Research Scholars of India to field Nikhil Gupta as their candidate from South Delhi

The Research Scholars of India (RSI), whose all-India protests resulted in a stipend hike for researchers last year, are now fielding their candidate in the forthcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2019 from South Delhi Constituency in the capital. Nikhil Gupta, who spearheaded the movement will be representing the RSI and will file his nomination papers by April 20 as an independent candidate.

"We have been asking for hike in fellowship, regularity in fellowship and to end the mental torture and harassment of the scholars since September 2018. Several issues recently raised by Delhi University ad-hoc teachers like non-implementation of honorarium for guest faculty, regularisation of ad-hoc faculties were also jointly raised including the unification of State PCS and UPSC. Time bound process of government exams and SSC scams are also some of the issues we want to raise. I will raise issues pertaining tohigher education and employment in the country, " the 26-year-old candidate who hails from Kanpur. "We decided that our representation would lose its voice in the politics of religion and hatred no matter which party we joined. So we decided to go for independent candidature," Nikhil added.

Nikhil is an alumnus of IIT Madras and is currently working as a Junior Research Scholar at the CBMR SGPGI Lucknow.

After numerous protests and hunger strikes at various IIT’s, NIT’s, AIIMS and other institutes the scholars have joined hands and decided to field Nikhil as their candidate for Lok Sabha elections 2019 from South Delhi constituency to put forward their demands in the "most solid and democratic manner". The RSI, Nikhil added, has the full support of various student organisations including the JNUSU.