AAP’s Revamped Student Wing Gears Up for DUSU Elections

With a rebrand, AAP’s ASAP enters the DUSU race promising a new political culture — free from education mafias and rooted in equity and reform.

The Aam Aadmi Party’s rebranded student wing, the Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), has kicked off its campaign drive a month ahead of the Delhi University Students’ Union elections. Relaunched in May with a new name and mission, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal promised to turn student activism into a force for national transformation. Previously known as the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), the party was established in 2014 to bring AAP’s vision of “alternative politics” to campuses. CYSS made its debut in the 2015 Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections but failed to secure any seats. Despite winning the president’s post in the Panjab University Campus Students’ Council elections in 2022, CYSS’s presence and influence in campus politics remained largely limited. The party, thus, struggled to gain a foothold.

ASAP’s logo features a torch-shaped fountain pen nib. Kejriwal stated,

The mainstream politics of the past 75 years is the root cause of all problems in India,” describing the launch as a departure from a system where elections are won through the misuse of power. ASAP’s mission, he added, was to “win hearts”.

Although the on-campus presence of ASAP is comparatively smaller than that of its competitors — the BJP’s student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and the Congress’s student wing, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) — there has been a subtle shift in allegiances, with several former ABVP and NSUI members now seen in ASAP. The Lyngdoh Committee recommendations stipulate that no candidate should be allowed to spend more than ₹5,000 or use printed material such as posters and flyers; however, “money and muscle power” continue to be evident through large hoardings, the distribution of printed manifestos, and the use of branded vehicles for campaigning.

As reported by The Indian Express, Deepak Bansal, a former DUSU joint secretary (2011) and ex-ABVP member who joined CYSS in 2023, stated that contesting DUSU elections has traditionally required significant financial backing, with candidates often expected to come from affluent backgrounds even to be considered. Therefore, it closes doors on students hailing from middle-class families, who have ideas and vision but no political godfather. Another issue, highlighted by The Indian Express through Ishwar Chand — who served as ABVP’s Delhi state president from 2009 to 2015 and joined AAP last year — is that tickets are almost always given to Jats and Gurjars, typically those with political clout and money, citing a “regional advantage.” He added that it was not just ABVP, and that NSUI too operated in the same manner. A massive number of DU students from UP and Bihar are left without a voice because candidates are chosen based on wealth and caste.

Moreover, another Delhi University student told The Week that the dominant national parties don’t often pick issues that resonate with students. If they do, however, pick relevant issues, many students may turn towards them. ASAP’s entry into the DUSU race thus represents an attempt to widen the space for participation in campus politics.

In the words of AAP’s Avadh Ojha,