IITian joins BJP, flooded with emails from alumni
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 25 March 2009, 23:31 IST   |    16 Comments
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Bangalore: Entry of an IITian to politics sparks mixed responses from IIT alumni. RK Misra, an IIT-Kanpur alumnus has received nearly 600 e-mails from IITians after joining the BJP on Saturday. "Since yesterday I have received 600 mails in which most are congratulatory, but there are those that border on being nasty," Misra told DNA. Misra believes that his decision to join BJP has sparked off a pan-IIT discussion. Misra, a social entrepreneur for five years had earlier won a leadership campaign organized by a media group. Egged on by friends, Misra now attempts to provide responses to each of the e-mails received. The Bangalore chapter of IIT-Bombay's Yahoo group entered the debate vigorously on March 24. "I felt let down that RK Misra joined the BJP. He was supposed to be a leader, instead he became a follower. I have written to him expressing my disappointment, and await his reply," said Dr. Samir Kelekar, IIT-Bombay alumnus. Meanwhile some of the IITians favor Misra's move, thinking it commendable that an IITian should enter politics. Saumil Majumdar, one of the moderators of the IIT-Bombay's Bangalore alumni Yahoo group opined, "Misra is one of us, so the intensity of the discussion is high. What he has done is commendable." "If we don't stand up and do what is required of us in the political sphere and in governance, can we complain?," asks Majumdar.

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