Kartik Chauhan, Author at DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

Campus Central

JNU Student’s Union Election Results Declared: All Four Seats Won by United Left

By Kartik Chauhan September 18, 2019

JNUSU (Jawahar Lal Nehru University Students’ Union) results have finally been announced hours after Delhi High Court permitted them to do so.

The results of JNU Student’s Union were announced on 17th September when the Delhi High Court permitted the varsity to declare the results following the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Community. All the four central panel posts have been won by the United Front of Left students group.

The vote-share of United Front of Left student groups All India Students’ Association (AISA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) and All India Students’ Federation (AISF) increased to 50.4 percent from 4 percent in the previous year.

Aishe Ghosh of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) won the post of the president by securing 2,313 votes. Manish Jangid from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) secured 1,128 votes. Ghosh belonging to SFI contested under the broader united Left panel. SFI got the post of the President after 13 years.

The post of Vice President has been won by United Left panel’s Saket Moon who secured 3,365 votes, while Shruti Agnihotri from ABVP came second with 1,335 votes. Satish Yadav from the United Left panel emerged as the winner for the post of General Secretary with 2,518 votes while the post of the Joint Secretary has been won by United Left panel’s Mohammad Danish who secured 3,295 votes.

In the previous year also, all the fours central panel positions were won by candidates of the united Left panel. A victory march was conducted within the University campus by the supporters of the United Left panel after the declaration of results.

JNU Student’s Union polls were conducted on September 6, 2019, with a voter turnout of 67.9 percent which was believed to be the highest in last 7 years. The results were to be declared on September 8, 2019, but were delayed till September 17 after petitions were filed in the Delhi High Court by two students alleging their nominations for the election of councillor in the JNUSU were illegally rejected.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat archives.

Priya Chauhan

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Bazinga

Bazinga: Issue of New ID Cards for All Students of the University

By Kartik Chauhan September 18, 2019

The University of Delhi (DU) has decided to introduce common ID cards for students in order to lessen the biasing which exists within the colleges and promote the university as a whole on a new front.

The layout of the new id cards have been finalized and approved by the an Academic committee comprising of seven current Principals and three retired Principals of DU.

Several politicians have approved of this move as an attempt to bring the University under one common umbrella as this will allow students to access various resources of the University easily, without being restricted by the ‘college’ barrier in order to avail the facilities the University provides. The common ID cards will also terminate the existence of the ‘Library Cards’ thereby effectively bringing forth the idea of having one common pass for accessing all what DU has to offer.

Although the decision comes at an odd time, with the new session already in swing, Prof. Kamlesh from the committee quotes, “Having a common ID card is a decision with the ultimate objective of benefitting the students. It will remove the barriers and segregations and allow the University to be seen as one whole sphere.”

The Vice Chancellor has also given a green flag to the decision.

The decision has roped in both positive and negative feedbacks from the student.

Shreeja Sharma, second-year student from Kalindi College quotes, “Having common ID cards would allow us to freely access the large libraries of various colleges, like IPCW. This will allow us to expand our knowledge base and expose ourselves to more avenues.”

The students from sports quota said this will allow them to train in the best facilities offered by the colleges. Shekhar Vats, a third-year Economics Honours student from sports quota says, “This is a great decision on the part of the University. Now we can have access to great sports complexes like the one of Shri Ram College of Commerce for our practices. With great places to practice, our efforts will get enhanced and we’ll bring more laurels to the University.”

Despite the positive changes it hopes to bring in, there has been discontent voiced against the move of having common ID cards.

Annanya Sharma from St. Stephen’s College has said, “Allowing ID Cards without the name of college would allow student politicians from ABVP and NSUI to disrupt the academic atmosphere of non-affiliated (to DUSU) colleges. We strongly condemn this move and will ask other non-DUSU colleges to join us.” (sic.)

The issue has been seriously taken up by the non-affiliated colleges and they have decided to protest against this sudden move in front of the Law Faculty the next Monday, on 23rd September. The fact that no student representation has been there in the committee before bringing in this change will also be voiced during the protest.

A sample template has been created by the committee and is out for comments on improvements and suggestions till 30th September, 2019. This is also present on the University web portal for public scrutiny.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly coloumn of almost believable fake news. It is not to be accepted, but only appreciated.

Feature Image Design Credits: Amrashree Mishra

Amrashree Mishra

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Forever 21 or Not-so-forever Anymore?

By Kartik Chauhan September 17, 2019

The teen clothing apparel retailer has been preparing for a potential bankruptcy filing, according to several published reports.

The clothing brand, originally known as Fashion 21 was founded by husband and wife Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang from Korea in 1984 in Los Angeles. Over the years, it has established itself as one of the leading brands globally. The fast-fashion expanded quickly and generated a massive following by selling trendy clothing and accessories for low and affordable prices. According to records, as of August 2018, Forever 21 had nearly 800 stores in 57 different countries and at its peak, it made a revenue of nearly $4.4 million (INR 31,54,86,600) despite the fact that the company had also been involved in various controversies and lawsuits, varying from labour practice issues to copyright infringement accusations to religion-based issues.

However, with time, as the company concentrated on growing bigger, even as its trends became more and more conventional and imitative. Subsequently, Forever 21 started losing touch with its frequent and core customers, while competitors like H&M and Zara kept rising, until Forever 21 wasn’t the trendsetter anymore.

Apart from this, as e-commerce has continued to rise, traditional retailers like Forever 21 have struggled to adapt to changing consumer behaviours. According to a survey conducted in March 2019, millennials make 60% of their purchases online, and overall prefer online shopping rather than making efforts to go to a physical store. All these factors subsequently resulted in the fall down of the company with its sales dropping down to 20%-25% in 2018, and we witnessed the founders being removed from the Forbes list of billionaires.

The company now is $500 Million (INR 35,85,32,50,000) in debt and henceforth, filing for bankruptcy.

According to sources, Forever 21 is formulating to shut down at least 100 stores as part of a restructuring that calls for the trendy fast-fashion retailer to file for bankruptcy insurance. The plan anticipates a Chapter 11 filing, which would allow the company to keep executing its operational activities while it forges a way to pay its creditors and turn the business around.

Furthermore, if the company shuts down, this could prove to be problematic for various stores and mall owners of India, as in India, the firm is a part of Aditya Birla Fashion Ltd., and would result in some loss of the Indian Retail Economy as well.

The company has been constantly trying to arrange for additional financing and working with a team of advisors to help it restructure its deficit, but negotiations with possible lenders have been a failure so far.

So it may turn out, Forever 21 might not be forever after all.

Feature Image Credits: Indian Retailer

Avni Dhawan

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DUB Speak

Electoral Friendships: Of Facade and Fantasies

By Kartik Chauhan September 12, 2019

Screaming claims of the space for
dissent in the University of Delhi (DU)
inspire political actions in the young
students. But all that is political is
about power, and power is corruptible.
Or is it?

Places are political, period. George
Orwell believed that the very claims
which state art should not be political
are themselves political in nature.
In light of such factual pervasiveness
of politics, institutions dedicated to
free thinking- from schools to colleges-
inspire ideologies that divide people
into disjoint groups. These groups
are very easily identifiable when it
comes to college politics. Colleges,
no doubt, invite the voice of dissent,
and to some extent, dialogue, but the
objectivity is blurred by the division
and distance between ideologies.
The problems are there, and they are
amplified when inevitably, the personal
and the political mould into one.
What happens to friendships when
they are based on politics? Or, are they
simply alliances?
Every year, thousands of students
are added to the vast network of
thinkers in the DU. With this injection,
there is a surge of social demand
for validation and the need for a
definition. College politics gives an
ideal view of a pedestal to actualising
these aspirations for the new members
of the varsity. The problem, however,
swoops in not-so-subtly, in the likeness
of that third-year hunk at the college
orientation programme. It begins
with a chai at Sudama Tea Stall, and
sometimes even extends, to AMA
Cafe. It presents itself in the form of
trips to Kamla Nagar, to Satya Niketan,
to Ridge, and so on and so forth. It is
all very charming as long as you are
with seniors, because “you do not pay
for food when you are out with your
seniors,” and it gives one the idea of a
having a ‘friend’.
The first two months are spent in
extravagance because that is how we
‘sustain bonds’. But soon, elections
come into play, and all the laugh
is submerged in the cries of corny
sloganeering and pointlessly furious
campaigning. Questions like “Oh, but
what about the time we spent till 7
p.m, doing nothing and sitting in the
sports ground in a huge group of 17
people?” inculcate guilt and pressure
at the same time. The “too bad” in
response to this question hits for real,
and yet, it is never heard.
The substance to maintain a political
relevance extends dramatically for a
first-year student in the varsity. Almost
all DU students witness a working
democracy for the first time in their
first year of college. This working
model, however, is obsessed with
winning personal favours to sustain
its structure. For a lot of unsuspecting
first-year students, the induction into
the political circuit is as great as their
inevitable disillusionment of it is.
Diplomatic conversations, insinuations,
and indirect implications against the
‘opposition’ create an exclusive bond
between two people. But it is sad
how youngsters who look forward to
spending time with their seniors and
friends become a mere projection for
the latter. They become a crop to be
harvested in election season and it all
reeks of betrayal.
Politically, there are usually two kinds
of groups preaching the same thing:
advising caution against the other.
In this mental rift, it cannot be
expected for the subject of this
sermon to make a wise choice
instantly- which would be different
according to both (or more than two)
groups, as per their ideologies. In
the transitional phase, and in most
cases, far from home, first-year
idealists fall for the subtle shams and
promises of fantasies of the seniors.
There is no foolproof way to avoid
these interventions, and if anything,
these disillusionments serve only
to make you cynical. But it is in this
mental time, that experience enables
visibility of the organic from the
facade. Rush into the polling booths,
because a world of the organic awaits
you outside.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat archives

Kartik Chauhan
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Campus Central

Religious Politics: ABVP Members Seek Blessings, NSUI Files a Complaint

By Kartik Chauhan September 12, 2019

National Students Union of India (NSUI) issued an official complaint against the candidates of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for visiting the Jhandewalan Mandir on Sunday, 8th September 2019 and posting about the same on social media.

The National Students Union of India (NSUI) recently condemned its opponent, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for adopting the practice of religion and religious symbols for the purpose of political campaigning which stands in direct violation of the Lyngdoh guidelines which all students contesting the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections are supposed to abide by, in order to not encounter direct disqualification.

In 2005, the Supreme Court decided to set up a committee to ensure measures that would hamper disruption caused by college elections. Following the order of the Supreme Court, a panel was set up by the ministry of Human Resource Development headed by the then Chief Election Commissioner, J.N Lyngdoh for the same, limiting the democratic functioning of the Student Unions and was called The Lyngdoh Committee.

The Lyngdoh guidelines clearly state that:

“No candidate shall indulge in, nor shall abet, any activity, which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic, or between any group(s) of students.”

According to the allegations made by NSUI, the following four candidates of Akhil Bhartiya Vidya Parishad (ABVP), Akshit Dahiya (President nominee), Pradeep Tanwar (Vice President nominee), Yogit Rathee (Secretary Nominee) and Shivangi Kharwal (Joint Secretary Nominee) along with Professor Manu Kataria of Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Science (State President of ABVP Delhi) were sighted using religious symbols for their campaigning. Later, a Facebook post was uploaded by the Presidential candidate Akshit Dahiya in which they visited a famous temple in Delhi wearing religious garments while making an appeal to vote for them, which disregards the Lyngdoh guidelines for social media campaigning as well.

Apart from this, under the Delhi University Act, any Professor under the paid role of Central Government is not allowed to display their political affiliation in public but sources have also proclaimed that Mr. Manu Kataria endorsed candidates for the DUSU election, hence violating the Delhi University Service Rules.

As per sources, NSUI has registered a formal complaint on the issue and made a request to the Election Officer to constitute a Grievance Redressal Hearing against the violators under the Lyngdoh guidelines and withdraw their nomination at the earliest as it is against the norms of free and fair elections.

Shri Akshay Lakhra, NSUI Delhi State President stated, “NSUI will ensure no polarisation of University takes place. ABVP already used cheap rhetoric this election by illegally putting up the statue of a highly controversial figure Damodardas Savarkar. When the move failed, they retorted to further downgrade cheap theatrics of using religion as a tool to safeguard their defeated campaign. Delhi University students are not going to be fooled by such rhetoric of ABVP again after the fake degree issue, and would give a sounding reply to them in upcoming student union elections.”

Following this news, the students of University of Delhi didn’t take it as a surprise that candidates do not follow the guidelines established for running a campaign, they believe that the Lyngdoh Committee is not a solution to strengthen or improve the prevailing conditions of student politics and DU stands as a classic example of its failure in limiting money and muscle power politics.

Feature Image Credit: ABVP Media

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DUB News

DUTA Seeks Kejriwal’s Help on the Salary Probe

By Kartik Chauhan September 11, 2019

On Monday, 9 September, 2019, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) corresponded to the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal regarding the issuance of salaries for the employees of the 28 colleges that are either fully or partially funded by the Delhi government.

The complaint is lodged with regard to the payment of due salaries owing to the stoppage of grants by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) relaxation. Where the formation of governing bodies prompted a deadlock between the University and the city government, the accusations from both ends claim to have delayed the process further.

Although, earlier in June Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia directed the Education Secretary, Sandeep Kumar to ensure the release of funds for three months to the 28 colleges, the employees of the 28 partially or fully funded colleges, under the Delhi government are constantly being subjected to delayed payments of salaries and other remunerations due to prolonged stoppage of grants by the AAP dispensation, said according to a letter by DUTA.

“You would agree that this action of denial of salaries to the teaching and non-teaching staff of these colleges amounts to a violation of basic human rights. Your reasons, whatsoever they may be, do not warrant such an assault on the living conditions of the employees,” it said.

It further quoted, “The government must also immediately release funds for the additional posts that are to be created for the teaching and non-teaching staff in the wake of the EWS reservations. ”

With these delays affecting the teachers of the institution directly, the futility in their responses have apparently affected the students of the varsity as well.

The necessary increment in the number of students across all disciplines under EWS have resuscitated all the aforementioned colleges with additional funds for salaries and infrastructural development to add for the proper functioning of the colleges with regard to academic and administrative responsibilities, says the association. While, some of the new courses that are incepted after receiving the necessary approvals designated in the administration, most of them are devoid of funds and appointment of teachers required for continuation of these courses.

“They (DU) are not forming governing bodies. They are deliberately not doing it because they want to do wrong appointments. They should bring governing bodies and let those bodies decide. How can we give funds when they are not bringing governing bodies?” says Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in response to this issue.

Where the University claims to have formed a committee to look into the issue, it has further speculated the matter and has stated some names to the government concerning the issue.

Where the twelve colleges that are fully-funded by the Delhi government includes Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education & Sports Science, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Shaheed Raj Guru College, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, Acharya Narendra Dev College, Bhagini Nivedita College, Keshav Maha Vidyalaya, Maharaja Agrasen College, Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Mahirishi Balmiki College of Education and Bhaskara Charya College of Applied Science

The sixteen partially-funded colleges are namely, Shivaji College, Motilal Nehru CollegeLaxmi Bai College, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Maitreyi College, SPM College for Women, Satyawati College, Vivekananda College, Rajdhani College, Kamala Nehru College, Gargi College, Swami Shardhanand College, Kalindi College, Bharti College, Sri Aurobindo College, and Delhi College of Arts and Commerce.

It is however paradoxical that in a recent tweet by the Delhi CM on the account of Teachers’ Day, he claims to be indebted to the teachers for their contribution in building the society, the DUTA probe sends his words otherwise.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Faizan Salik

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DUB News

Police Searches DU Professor’s House Regarding Elgar Case

By Kartik Chauhan September 11, 2019

At 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, 10^th September, the Pune police searched the residence of Hany Babu, a professor in the English Department of the University of Delhi (DU), in relation to the Elgar case.

On Tuesday, 10^th September 2019, Pune police conducted a series of searches in the residence of Hany Babu, a professor in the English Department of the University of Delhi (DU), in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The searches were conducted in connection to the Elgar Parishad case of 2017. He was investigated due to alleged Maoist links. Though no arrest was made, this development was confirmed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Shivaji Pawar. “We have conducted a search operation at Babu’s residence in Noida in connection with the Elgar Parishad case registered at the Vishrambaug police station in Pune,” Pawar told India Today, adding that police have recovered some electronic devices.

The Elgar conclave was held on 31^st December 2017, to commemorate the battle of Koregaon-Bhima, and the speeches made during this conclave aggravated the caste violence around the Koregaon Bhima village in the district on 1^st January 2018. This led to the death of one person, and several others were injured. Police have arrested nine persons related to the case so far.

Professor Hany Babu’s Public Statement on the police intimidation and raid at his house read:

“I am Hany Babu, residing with my family in Noida. I have been teaching at the English Department in the University of Delhi as an Associate Professor for close to a decade.

At 6:30 AM in the morning, 20 people knocked at my door, claiming that they belonged to the Pune Crime Branch. Five of them were in uniform, the rest were in civil clothes. I was told that they wanted to conduct a search of my residence. When asked for a search warrant, I was told that there was none and that this case doesn’t need one. Following this, I requested for some form of identification to be shown to me. An officer with the name Dr. Shivaji Pawar showed me his ID. After this, the officers entered my residence and looked through every room of my apartment. The search went on for six hours, at the end of which they said they would be seizing my laptop, my hard disks, my pen drives and books. They made me change the passwords of my social media accounts and my email account. They have complete access to my accounts now through the changed passwords and I no longer have access to these accounts. I would like to state that as a teacher, my work is heavily dependent on what I’ve saved in my laptops and external hard disks. It also contains the research work that I’ve been pursuing for years. This work is not something which can be duplicated in days. These are years of my hard work. I don’t understand how a government agency can seize my work without providing me the reasons for it, or the basis on which a search was conducted at my residence. They did not have a search warrant with them and they did not explain further as to why they don’t possess the same. While the search was ongoing, they also seized the phones of my wife and my daughter, barring us from communicating with our friends.”

In a press release by Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA), Rajib Ray, the President of DUTA condemned the act, claiming that such raids without search warrants are against the very essence of democracy, individual freedom, and open the door for planting evidence.” He also states that such intolerance towards criticism and dissent was the basis for the insidious attempt that was made last year to amend the Delhi University Act and apply ESMA, and that “this attack on academic freedom and freedom of expression will be opposed tooth and nail by the teachers of Delhi University and other academic institutions in the country.”

The search operation has been met with a massive uproar. A protest was organised on 11th September near the Faculty of Arts, North Campus, to raise questions on the essential nature of dissent in a politically active space like DU, and its lack thereof in the face of desperate attempts to annihilate contrasting voices. This is the latest case in a series of witch-hunts aimed at making the college spaces more “positive”.

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

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Campus Central

DRC Students Protest for Free and Fair Elections to Students’ Union

By Kartik Chauhan September 11, 2019

Daulat Ram College’s students raised their voice against wrongful cancellation of nomination of candidates, scrapping of the post of General Secretary, and undemocratic election procedure.

On Monday, September 9th, 2019, the students of Daulat Ram College located in North Campus, University of Delhi, organised a sit-in protest and sloganeering rally against the decisions regarding the DRC Student Union (DRCSU) student polls 2019-20 that had been taken by the Student Advisory Board (SAB) of the institution. The students sat in the corridor leading to the Principal’s office for the entire day and shouted slogans of “We Want Justice” across the entire campus. They also chanted their demands in the staff room corridor.

According to the students, the SAB wrongfully cancelled the nominations of the candidates to five posts of the Student Union – Joint Secretary, Vice President, Cultural Secretary, Treasurer and Proctor. Allegedly, the SAB also declared that the post of General Secretary to the Union would be scrapped for this session since no eligible candidate for the post had filled their nomination as per their notification. As a result, candidates were selected, declared ‘unopposed’ by the SAB for the aforementioned five posts, and elections for these posts stood cancelled. The latest notification of the SAB listed the selected candidates for these posts and only called for elections to take place for the post of President, where two candidates were allowed to contest. The protesting students have demanded this unfair notice to be called-off and the candidature of other nominees to be considered as well.

As per Paavni, a third year Economics Honours students of Daulat Ram College, this arbitrary decision of the Board was undemocratic and “…essentially took away the students’ right to elect their representatives.”

Supposedly, when the students approached the Grievance Board through the SAB, they were notified of the reasons of the cancellation of the nominations, which were in accordance with the new rules of the SAB. But according to the students, these rules were imposed in an unjust manner. The SAB had not considered sports attendance for the sports quota students, which had been submitted to the respective teachers of their subjects and on these grounds, the nominations had been cancelled. Moreover, four out of the five unopposed candidates are in favour of fair elections and had written an application to the SAB that they were against the unfair cancellation of the nominations and wanted free and fair elections, yet the Grievance Board did not engage in any conversation with either the candidates or the protestors.

As a result, the student body has decided to take this matter up with the Principal as well as other administrative body, until their demands are fulfilled and a truly fair election allowed.

Feature Image Credits: Bhavya Pandey for DU Beat

Feature Image Caption: Notice issued by the SAB of DRC

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Campus Central

Pradeep Tanwar, Vice-Presidential Candidate, ABVP Interviewed Ahead of Elections

By Kartik Chauhan September 11, 2019

On 5th September, 2019, DU Beat conducted an interview with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) Vice Presidential candidate, Pradeep Tanwar to know him and his perspective regarding the upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections.

Pradeep Tanwar, is a graduate in B.A. Programme from P.G.D.A.V College. He’s currently pursuing his masters in Hindi from Deshbandhu College. He has been a part of ABVP since 2015, and believes his true interest lies in politics and solving students’ problems.

What are the main issues you and your party will focus on for DUSU 2019?

The main issues we will focus on are:

Metro concession pass: it’s unfair to ask a student who comes from a middle-class family to spend so much on travelling. Our biggest fight is for metro concession passes.
Hostels in South Campus: Except Venky (Sri Venkateswara College), there aren’t a lot of colleges that have hostels in south campus. We will work to establish these hostels.

To the common student, DUSU feels like an unapproachable political entity, what will you and your party do to ensure accountability to the students of University of Delhi?

I, along with other ABVP members, have went to each college to personally listen to the problems of students and solve them. Students get help from ABVP from the time they get their admission done to the date of their farewell. I will personally organise campaigns in each college to listen to students.

The incidents on Old Gupta Road and Hindu Rao Hospital highlight security concerns for those living in North Campus, what steps will you take to ensure safety and security on campus?

Of course, we’re working towards making campus safer. We’ve made a committee to look into this, and asses the cases to make campus student-friendly.

Campaigning every year uses up a tremendous amount of paper for pamphlets, posters etc., which then leads to litter on campus, what is your say on the matter?

These are how elections take place, it has become a method by all parties. ABVP doesn’t do littering as we’re always fighting for a clean campus.

University of Delhi (DU) was recently declared an Institute of Eminence by the Union Government which entitles DU to a payment of a 1000 crores over 5 years, however, the trend in 2019 in DU has been of increasing fees and hostel rates, why do you think this is so? And what will your party do to reduce fee hikes and hostel rates?

It’s the staff and other people involved who are using this money for their own benefits. We’re working constantly towards fighting fee hikes. We protest or petition, but we always get success for students. Deshbandhu College had raised its fees, we had protested there with the students.

The Lyngdoh Committee lays down 5000 rupees as the maximum expenditure amount, how does your party maintain it?

We always manage our campaigning under the budget. We follow all rules of the committee. ABVP works all year round so we don’t require high campaigning.

Which element differentiates you from the other contenders for the post of Vice President?

What differentiates me, is my affiliation to ABVP. Students will vote for me as ABVP is the only party that works year-round for the students on a ground level, unlike other parties.

Last year, there were allegations of EVM tampering against ABVP, also to be noted, the EVM’s were privately supplied and not by the Election Commissions, how do you plan to make sure elections are held fairly?

You ask this question to us on every meeting. I would like to inform that ABVP follows the rules of Lyngdoh committee very well. At this point, all other parties are non-existent and then they use these dirty tactics making politics intimidating for all.

ABVP Panel

President: Akshit Dahiya, Ballot No.1

Vice President: Pradeep Tanwar, Ballot No. 5

Secretary: Yogit Rathi, Ballot No. 3

Joint Secretary: Shivangi Kharwal, Ballot No. 4

Feature Image Credits : ABVP

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Campus Central

In Conversation with Akshit Dahiya, Presidential Candidate, ABVP for DUSU Elections 2019

By Kartik Chauhan September 11, 2019

On 5th September, DU Beat conducted a telephonic interview with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) Presidential candidate Akshit Dahiya ahead of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections 2019, to shed light on his opinions and views.

Akshit Dahiya is currently a first year L.L.B. student at Faculty of Law, University of Delhi (DU). He’s also a graduate in B.Sc. Physical Sciences from Ramjas College, and a silver medallist in bodybuilding from University of Delhi (DU). He became a member of ABVP in 2016.

What are the main issues you will focus on as a presidential candidate?

Being a sportsperson, I strongly feel about encouragement of sports in University of Delhi (DU). Outside if you notice, all the students who win medals are of universities. Hence, I have a dream that in 2024 Olympics, it should be DU students representing India.

The other thing is DU special buses, I come from a very low metro connectivity area, so transportation from my home to the varsity became a task. That’s why, we would start these buses by making petitions.

There have been recent cases like the one on Old Gupta road or near Hindu Rao Hospital that seriously question the safety of students. Have you done anything to ensure the safety of students studying and living there?

We’ve already taken various steps. I did my entire campaigning on bi-cycles. I took 100 bi-cycles from college to college. I had two motives for it, one was of Green Delhi, it’s shameful for all, how we’re not contributing as individuals towards this issue. The other is, the scheme of closed campus. A lot of cars are driven in campus making students prone to accidents.

What are the few highlights of the ABVP manifesto for DUSU Elections, 2019?

Even though we’ll have an entire manifesto announcement, few points are:

Metro Concession passes: Metro is raising their fares constantly making it very expensive for a normal middle-class student of DU to travel.
Scholarships in University: ABVP is the only group that allotted 50% of their entire budged towards giving scholarships to sportsmen, PWD candidates, and Economically weaker students.
Holiday homework: All the students sit idle for the two months till 20th July until classes start. We’ve taken a target that will we provide 10,000 students with internships in summer vacation.

How inclusive is ABVP towards LGBTQIA+ students? Will they receive adequate representation?

It should be noted, that in our manifesto we have mentioned that we want free education for Transgender and the entire LGBT community.

DUSU seems an unapproachable entity to the common DU student. Will you take any steps for making it more student friendly and less intimidating?

I was never part of student politics earlier. I was a studious student. So, I’m well aware of the thought process of sports and study-oriented students and I will run a cycle of schemes and programmes to bring them to DUSU. Already ABVP-led-DUSU has done events like “She the Change” to increase the involvement of women and we will continue this even for cultural society members, and sports students as well.

Lyngdoh Committee has kept 5000 as maximum expenditure for campaigning. How do you and your party abide by it?

Our entire party follows this thoroughly as ABVP works on ground level and each student gets affiliated naturally. We work under those INR 5000 per candidate very easily.

Campaigning for DUSU often leads to littering in campus by all political parties. What steps have you taken to avoid this?

Our motive this time is Clean Campus. We will follow it in depth and thoroughly till the end. There is no way ABVP supports this. We have ensured that the campus had cleanliness. It’s just the other parties that don’t work all year round and then need heavy campaigning to win, unlike ABVP.

In 2017, many DU colleges proposed to be given autonomy, which could lead to privatisation of DU’s constituent colleges, are you for or against this, and why?

My opinion and what steps ABVP will take regarding this will only be revealed in our press conference soon.

Last year, there were allegations of EVM tampering against ABVP, how will you ensure that incidents like this don’t occur this year and how do you plan to make sure elections are held fairly?

The issue of EVM tampering came because on the post of secretary there were only eight candidates and yet votes had been given on a ninth ballot as well.

It shouldn’t be situated with us, as NSUI won the post of secretary making it evident as to who tampered EVMs. For us, democracy is above all. We have never engaged in undemocratic acts like these.

University of Delhi was recently declared an Institute of Eminence by the Union Government which entitles DU to a receipt of INR 1000 crores over 5 years, however, the trend in 2019 in DU has been of increasing fees and hostel rates, why do you think this is so? And what will your party do to reduce fee hikes and hostel rates?

We have worked a lot against fee hikes for students. Citing a few examples, there was Rajiv Gandhi Girls’ hostel which had increased its fee manifold, ABVP went there to protest and accomplished the goal of reducing their fees for students. At Ramanujan College, after they increased their fee by 100%, we protested there for the same.

In the end, I would just advise all the students to come and vote. We’ve struggled a lot in history to achieve voting rights for students. They should vote as this time elections will be held on the ideology of nationalism.