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Shadow hangs over DUSU polls as campaigning ends
DUSU elections face uncertainty after a court reprimand over campaign defacement. Major parties rally support, with results set for Saturday.
New Delhi
Sloganeering, final promises and grandiosity marked the last day of the campaigning for the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections on Wednesday, across both south and north campuses.
However, it remained uncertain whether the elections will be held as scheduled on Friday at all, after the Delhi high court pulled up university authorities over the alleged defacement of property during the campaign and asked them to consider deferring the process till “everything is cleaned up”.
DU said it will take a decision on the schedule on Thursday.
The results were to be declared on Saturday.
The Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and the Bharatiya Janata Party-backed Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which will once again be in the fray to bag the four posts up for grabs, held marches on the day to rally voters to their respective causes.
Last year, ABVP managed to secure three of the four posts, winning president, secretary and general secretary posts. NSUI won the post of vice president.
NSUI’s national president Varun Choudhary promised to address key student concerns. “Ronak Khatri and Lokesh Choudhary, our presidential and joint secretary nominees, represent the change DU needs. We are committed to ensuring that our manifesto is implemented,” he said.
Both Khatri and Nandal paraded on top of a modified open car, making their way through the North Campus to interact with students. Nineteen-year-old Namrata Jeph Meena is contesting for the post of secretary and Lokesh Chudhary (24) is contesting for the post of joint secretary.
The ABVP, meanwhile, conducted “student samvaads” on the last day of campaigning to understand their issues. It said wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt joined their central panel nominees at South Campus on Wednesday. ABVP’s presidential nominee is 24-year-old Rishabh Choudhary from the Department of Buddhist Studies; 24-year-old Bhanu Pratap Singh from Law Centre is the vice-president post nominee, 20-year-old Mitravinda Karanwal is the nominee for the secretary post and 23-year-old Aman Kapasiya is fighting for the joint secretary post.
The Left student groups Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students’ Association (AISA) have allied, with two candidates each from the two parties contesting the elections. AISA’s Saavy Gupta, a law student, is the president post nominee, AISA’s Ayush Mondal is vying for the vice-president post, and SFI’s Sneha Aggarwal and Anamika are, meanwhile, the respective nominees for the secretary and joint secretary posts. “The alliance campaigned together, leading marches around law centre in North Campus. There is tremendous support for the alliance,” an AISA student said.
