DU promises cleaner student polls

Delhi University (DU) on Saturday announced the schedule for this year’s students’ union elections. The polls will be held on September 4.

Delhi University (DU) on Saturday announced the schedule for this year’s students’ union elections. The polls will be held on September 4.

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The model code of conduct, which the election officers are still working on, is expected to be the same as last year. The code, introduced in 2008, was drastically different as it included all recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee.

Despite opposition from student parties, the ban on use of vehicle, loudspeakers and printed posters and the cap of Rs 5,000 on election expenditure per candidate will continue to stay this year.

But these norms were not able to ensure clean polls last year. Most candidates used vehicles and printed posters during their campaign and no action was taken against them.

DU proctor and election officer Gurmeet Singh, however, promised that things will be different this time around.

“We’ll have more security this year and we will be more vigilant as far as violation of the code of conduct goes. Some of the police officials on duty will actually record the campaign of candidates with a handheld camera so that it’s easier for us to catch violators red-handed,” he said.

In 2008, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad bagged the president’s post while the other three seats were won by the National Students Union of India.