Prayagraj: A group of students at the Allahabad University in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj district have been on protest since July 10, 2026, against the university administration’s recent decision to increase admission fee and drastically reduce the number of seats for different courses. The main entrance to the university, commonly referred to as the Senate Gate, has emerged as a flashpoint in the premises. The university witnessed a clash between two student groups belonging to Disha and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) respectively, while the security staff reportedly stood by as mute spectators on August 4, 2026. A meeting took place between the institution’s administration and student protesters on August 6. Though the university put out a statement on Instagram claiming that the “protest had been called off following talks in a peaceful manner,” student leaders claim that discussion with the administration representatives remained inconclusive. The statement regarding talks ending on an amicable note, posted by the official handle of the university, was deleted by August 7, as students resumed their protest against the administration. Speaking to The Wire, Sonali Yadav, All India Student Association (AISA) member and a student of the Allahabad University, who joined the protesters on August 7 again, said, “I was present at the meeting [with the university administration] which went on for three to four hours. Some of our core demands like rollback of the decision regarding suspension of five students, along with registration of first information reports against them, were not addressed. The university administration has spread this misinformation that we have ended our protest.” The agitation has kickstarted a fresh political controversy as the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi spoke up in support of the students on August 6, ahead of his ‘Chatron ki Goonj’ programme in Prayagraj. “Students of Allahabad University are fighting for their future against fee hikes and seat cuts. But instead of listening to the students, the administration is filing FIRs against them. The policy of the Modi government is to suppress the voice of the youth. If you ask a question, you’ll face lathi charge, if you protest, you’ll face cases and if you raise your voice, you’ll face pellet guns,” Gandhi wrote on X. The post has since then been retweeted over 6,000 times. The official handle of University of Allahabad on X, too, responded to Gandhi and stated, “Fee hike happened four years back. Allahabad University fee is still lower than Delhi University, Banaras Hindu University, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University and many others.”“Seats have not been cut. The number of mushrooming private universities has taken many aspirants. They are scattered into so many, hence seats do not get filled up,” the university added.Chandraprakash, a student leader who is associated with Disha, told The Wire, “This protest has been going on for 30-40 days. Its timeline was around the same time when CJP’s protests began. Issues included the fact that every year, fees are being hiked by 10% for undergraduate courses and 14% for postgraduate courses, second issue was related to reduction in the number of seats available at the university by 6000.” “The extent to which the seats have been reduced can be gauged from the fact that for instance in the Philosophy department earlier there used to be 192 seats which has now been reduced to 50 seats, and third demand was regarding supply of clean drinking water and better condition of toilets within the university premises,” said Chandraprakash. As a group of students sitting on a yellow tarpaulin sheet at the entry of Allahabad University has become a permanent fixture, protesters have gotten support from other political leaders as well, including Samajwadi Party MP Pushpendra Saroj, Azad Samaj Party president and Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sudhakar Singh. Meanwhile, the only post related to the ongoing students’ protest on the Instagram handle of Allahabad University, dated August 6, 2026 states: “Teachers and employees stand up against the main entrance gate being blocked by miscreants.” A video of a meeting of some staff members has been put up along with the message.