E-Paper
DU student bodies ignore poster ban
Not only are the "welcome" posters and billboards visible outside some off-campus colleges such as Rajdhani College and Shivaji College, they grace the main North Campus area - near Miranda House and Khalsa college, as well.
First-year students of Delhi University received a very warm welcome this year from members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and National Students' Union of India (NSUI) - youth wings of Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress, respectively.
The welcome acquired the form of larger-than-life posters and billboards outside DU colleges.
Not only are the "welcome" posters and billboards visible outside some off-campus colleges such as Rajdhani College and Shivaji College, they grace the main North Campus area - near Miranda House and Khalsa college, as well.
However, these very welcoming members of the NSUI and ABVP are unaware of the Lyngdoh Committee provisions.
"If any member of ABVP or NSUI is found putting up any poster with their faces or names in or around the University campus before the canvassing period is scheduled to begin, their candidature will be cancelled with immediate effect as per recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee for Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections," said HP Singh, proctor, Delhi University.
The UPA Government set up the Lyngdoh Committee in 2006 to put a stop to the lavish expenditure incurred during student union elections. Of the several provisions in the committee recommendations, one included a ban on posters and hoardings with faces of potential candidates.
However, ABVP denied having put up any posters outside colleges, also claiming that independent candidates who pose as members of the party have put up the posters, thereby delinking itself from the issue.
"Any posters or billboards are likely to have been put up by independent candidates posing as members of the Union. We have no connection with them at all," said ABVP member and DUSU president Jitender Chaudhry.
Said Mahendra Chaudhary, state president, NSUI, "There are a few posts such as those of district president and district coordinator of the NSUI which had just been assigned. These people have been featured on some posters. As far as welcoming freshers is concerned, anyone can do that."
