AISA national president links education, employment and recruitment grievances to a broader political challenge during the GEN-Z Mahajutan Yatra
Gorakhpur/Lucknow, September 15, 2026: All India Students' Association (AISA) national president Neha Bora has stepped up her criticism of the Uttar Pradesh government during the organisation's ongoing GEN-Z Mahajutan Yatra, linking student and youth concerns over education, employment and recruitment to a wider demand for political accountability.
The sharpest political formulation attributed to Bora during the campaign has been her reported reference to a choice between “Baba” and “Babasaheb”, in an apparent contrast between Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
“Baba ka raj hoga ya Babasaheb ka raj hoga, aane wala chunav batayega.”
The statement has circulated on social media as a direct political challenge to the Yogi government. The exact wording is attributed to Bora in social-media reports; Dweep Tulika has not independently verified a full transcript of the speech.
The remark came amid AISA's statewide GEN-Z Mahajutan Yatra, which is being conducted as part of its broader GenZ Rising campaign.
From student issues to a broader political challenge
AISA announced the yatra in August as an effort to bring together student and youth concerns around education, competitive examinations, employment and social justice. The announced programme began in Prayagraj on September 9 and included stops in Rae Bareli, Varanasi, Azamgarh and Gorakhpur, followed by Lucknow and Meerut.
The campaign has focused heavily on issues affecting students and young job seekers.
In Varanasi, Bora raised concerns over university fees, paper leaks, hostel reservations, shortage of seats and scholarships, while also highlighting employment and recruitment problems faced by competitive-examination aspirants.
At an Azamgarh gathering on September 13, she criticised what she described as the “selling” of education through NEP 2020 and called for stronger public-school infrastructure, including teachers, laboratories and libraries.
Gorakhpur becomes the political backdrop
Bora's Gorakhpur appearance on September 14 added a more direct political dimension to the campaign.
Gorakhpur has a longstanding political association with Yogi Adityanath, who represented the constituency in the Lok Sabha for several terms before becoming Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
At the student gathering there, Bora accused governments of failing to adequately address concerns surrounding unemployment, recruitment delays, examination issues and education.
She also raised demands relating to scholarships, hostels, women's hostels and infrastructure funding in public universities.
AISA has said the campaign is intended to take student mobilisation beyond individual university grievances and build a broader youth movement.
‘Baba’ versus ‘Babasaheb’
The “Baba” and “Babasaheb” formulation gives Bora's campaign a distinctly political character.
“Baba” is commonly used by supporters and followers when referring to Yogi Adityanath, while “Babasaheb” is a widely used honorific for Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
By placing the two terms against each other, Bora's reported formulation invokes a contrast between the political leadership associated with the present Uttar Pradesh government and the constitutional legacy associated with Ambedkar.
That interpretation, however, is an editorial reading of the slogan. The precise political meaning Bora intended should be understood from the full speech and surrounding remarks.
The statement has nevertheless circulated widely on social media and has been interpreted by supporters as an explicit challenge to the political narrative surrounding the chief minister.
Education and employment remain the campaign's core themes
Despite the sharper political rhetoric, the yatra's stated focus remains student and youth concerns.
AISA has raised issues including:
- unemployment;
- recruitment delays;
- competitive-examination grievances;
- alleged paper leaks and examination irregularities;
- university fees;
- scholarships;
- hostel shortages;
- women's hostels;
- public-university infrastructure;
- teacher vacancies; and
- concerns over the privatisation of education.
At Gorakhpur, Bora said student and youth movements were demanding accountability not only from university administrations but also from state and Central governments.
AISA has also sought to connect the current campaign with recent student mobilisation at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, presenting the Uttar Pradesh yatra as an effort to carry that momentum into the state.
Can student grievances become a wider political movement?
The political significance of the campaign will ultimately depend on whether the issues raised by AISA gain traction beyond organised student circles.
Unemployment, competitive examinations, recruitment, higher-education costs and access to public education directly affect large numbers of young people.
But the existence of grievances does not automatically establish the political strength of a particular student organisation or movement.
AISA will therefore face the larger challenge of converting individual student concerns into sustained mobilisation across Uttar Pradesh.
For now, the organisation is attempting to make education, employment and accountability central themes of its youth campaign while increasingly directing its criticism at the BJP governments in the state and at the Centre.
Bora's “Baba or Babasaheb” formulation has added an explicitly political layer to that campaign.
Whether the slogan becomes a wider electoral message—or remains a rallying line within a student mobilisation—will depend on how the campaign develops in the coming months.
Political balance
AISA's statements represent the position of a student organisation critical of the BJP-led governments.
The allegations and criticisms regarding unemployment, recruitment, examination irregularities, education policy and university infrastructure should therefore be presented as political claims and demands, rather than independently established failures of the government.
The Uttar Pradesh government's response to the specific allegations raised during the yatra was not included in the material reviewed for this report.