Congress MP Shashi Tharoor admires student activist Neha Bora for her convictions and courage. But he has another reason to be impressed by her -- her selfie-taking skills.
After meeting the All India Students' Association (AISA) president at the INDIA bloc's March for Democracy in New Delhi on Monday, Tharoor praised her "manifest courage" and "the courage of her convictions". He then offered a light-hearted compliment about her selfie skills, saying she takes "better selfies than most".
"Enjoyed meeting at the INDIA bloc's March For Democracy on Monday. I have great respect for her manifest courage — the courage of her convictions. She also takes better selfies than most!," the Congress MP posted, also sharing their selfies clicked by Neha.
Neha, the national president of AISA, the student organisation affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, has risen to political prominence through her participation in the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)'s protests over NEET irregularities. She had undertaken a hunger strike during the July protests.
Neha has now emerged as a youth face of the protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
She has been actively engaging with INDIA bloc leaders as demonstrations over electoral rights bring student organisations, opposition parties and civil society groups together. She attended the high tea hosted by Rahul Gandhi to chalk out the future course of the protests and joined the INDIA bloc's march to the Supreme Court. On Monday, she also filed a complaint against Gyanesh Kumar.
Neha has argued that the protests against the SIR exercise have brought together people who might otherwise have remained divided by political affiliations and social backgrounds. She has maintained that the campaign is not merely an extension of opposition politics but a broader effort to defend democratic rights.
In an interview with India Today TV, Neha described the ongoing agitation as a people's protest against the BJP and asserted that it would continue until Kumar resigns and the SIR exercise is rolled back.
"When I say, 'we the people versus the BJP', this 'we the people' has actually been consolidated by the BJP," she said.
"If there weren't such a big threat to our very existence, to the very existence of Indian democracy, maybe we would not be united. But it's thanks to the BJP that we are united," Neha added.
She has also urged all political forces, besides INDIA bloc constituents, to unitedly take on the BJP-led government at the Centre.
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