E-Paper
DU polls: How clued in are students?
PM Modi and CM Kejriwal are fighting DU elections, believe some voters.
Delhi University went to polls on Friday amid a lot of hype and drama... and a pile of discarded posters. While the candidates from various parties (NSUI, ABVP and CYSS) cried hoarse convincing students to vote for them, we decided to do a quick check on whether those who were standing in the queue to cast their vote,
especially the freshers, if they even knew those who were wooing them to make it to the students’ union. Interestingly, a majority turned out to be clueless.
Let alone the reason for voting for them, most students were not aware of the candidates’ names, or even the full form of the contesting parties Asked who they would vote for, the answers ranged from “We want Modi ji in power” or “my vote is for Kejriwal”.
And it did not stop there. “I don’t know the full forms of the parties’ names. But I know that there are two parties — ABVP and DUSU. Chances DUSU ke jeetnay ke hain kyunki inko DUSU elections kehte hai,” said Rashmi Vardha*, a fresher from BA Poiltical Science. Aman Verma, a 2nd year BCom student, said, “Iss baar ek nayi party hai — AISA, jo Kejriwal ke under hai. Unke chance acche hai kyunki itna bada concert bhi kiya tha unhone. Gaane bajane se bahot student aate hai.” “I don’t know the name of the candidate but I’ll vote for BJP,” said Ria Arora, another fresher. And, it seems that some are still not over the slogan of the last Lok Sabha elections — Abki Baar Modi Sarkar. “Saari parties ke naam toh nahi pata hain, par hum ABVP ke liye vote karenge. You see Modi ji is the strongest candidate,” said Kriti Chandok, 17. “Kejriwal sir hi change layenge. Baaki ko vote de kar kya fayeda,” said Naveen Sehrawat, 17. (*Names changed to protect identities)
