Rahul to interact with AMU professors and deans during Aligarh road show

ALIGARH : Congress vice president, Rahul Gandhi’s road show in Aligarh on Friday would conclude with a meeting with academician and intellectuals of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) at a “private” function.
The interaction has been scheduled at the ancestral home of Nawab Madiur Rehman Sherwani, on Marris Road, and about 80-90 academicians from AMU, including professors, deans, principal and proctor are slated to attend the event.This event was a last minute addition to Rahul’s programme and finalised only late last evening. The interaction would “informal” over a “cup of tea” and there would be no speeches, say sources.
Incidentally, Rahul had visited AMU in 2009 and had interacted with the students. However, this time, the Congress, which is strategically wooing its lost Brahmin vote in UP, has avoided any such programme.
If sources are to be believed, as per initial plans, Rahul’s road show in the city was to enter the AMU campus from the Medical College side and was to exit through the varsity’s main gate, after passing through the residential colony of professors and teachers. However, this was cancelled on the pretext of “denial” of permission from the AMU administration.
Now, Rahul’s road show would only make a “cursory” touch of the varsity by taking a right turn towards the ADM complex from the bab-e-sayyed AMU gate.
Sources said the meeting AMU academicians was included at the insistence of local leaders, who claimed that this could sent wrong signals to the community, which is desperately looking for someone to defeat the BJP. “How could he have missed meeting people from AMU”, said a leader adding that after consultations with Rahul’s team a decision was taken last night.
As per plans, Rahul’s road show would be welcomed into the city by local leaders, including former MP and district president, Bijendra Singh, former MLA and city president, Vivek Bansal, Women wing state president, Prateema Singh, at Gabhana. He would have lunch at the residence of party’s SC/ST district president and dalit leader, Raju Paswan.
Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangements have been for Rahul’s road show with nearly 1000 district cops and two companies of PAC being deployed on the route. The district police may even use drone cameras to keep an eye on the route.