KOLKATA: The apathy that bright students from Bengal have towards politics is fast disappearing. Nowadays, students from leading academic institutions are turning backroom boys for leading politicians like LK Advani, Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, among others.

As the Lok Sabha elections approach, IIT-Kharagpur and IIM-Calcutta are emerging as institutions from where students will be helping the poll process in large numbers. As many as 17 boys from IIT-Kharagpur have already become associate members of the Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG), a declared outfit of students, intellectuals and professionals, to give boost to Narendra Modi's campaign. Also, at least 31 students from IIM-Calcutta had applied for internship in the Trinamool camp, of whom 14 were shortlisted. Their credentials are being reviewed and they will have to face a rigorous interview before the party selects only two interns this season.

From tea parties to roadside meetings, these 17 NaMo supporters from IIT-Kharagpur can be seen everywhere. They are cycling their way to villages in the vicinity of the institute, talking to voters, making them aware of their rights and how the advent of the party would spell development for their villages as it has for Gujarat. Studies on Gujarat complete with statistics are being shared with the people of Kharagpur by these students.

These boys have selected Chandan Kumar, a second year M Tech student, and Pravin Kaushal, a B Tech final year student, as their leaders. "While we joined CAG sometime ago, we officially started campaigning for Modiji from the 'Chai Pe Charcha' (tea party with discussions) organised by the district BJP leadership at Kharagpur," Pravin said.

Though there are restrictions on open political meetings inside the Kharagpur campus, an informal meeting has apparently been organised on February 27 at what is popularly called Tikka's dhaba on campus. This will be a brainstorming session and may be attended by BJP district president Tushar Mukherjee and Kharagpur town president Premchand Jha. "We are thrilled to know the students' interest in BJP affairs. They have the power of language and technology. They will add to our strength through new age campaigns involving the social media and smart e-designing," Jha said.

Some saw the rise of Arvind Kejriwal to Delhi's pinnacle of power as the reason behind this trend. Kejriwal, an alumnus of the mechanical engineering department of IIT Kgp, saw a huge fan following among present students who had even opened Facebook pages. All the 16 boys have huge posters of Modi in their hostel rooms and spend a couple of hours everyday at the Chhoto Tangra BJP party office.

Meanwhile, all 14 candidates of IIM-C, who have been shortlisted for final group discussions and interviews for internships with the Trinamool, are waiting for their calls. A core team of five senior Trinamool politicians will talk to them to finalize the lucky two. "I am interested in joining the civil service. A working knowledge of the political landscape of India from an insider's perspective and access to resources will help," said Sandeep Devarapalli, a first year student of PGDM at IIM-C, one of the boys shortlisted for the final interview.

Derek O Brien, national spokesperson for the party, said, "After the internship gets over, these two will get to meet and talk to chief minister Mamata Banerjee for an hour."

