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DUSU Elections 2017

In wake of the upcoming DUSU Elections, ABVP organises ‘Chatra Adhikar Rally’ at North Campus

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In the sunny afternoon of 30th August 2017 Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi (ABVP) organised a ‘Chattra Adhikar Rally’ at the north campus of Delhi University. The rally which was organised in the wake of the upcoming elections, ABVP pushed forward its demands for U-Special Buses, more hostels and supplementary exams from the administration.
The rally which was scheduled to begin at afternoon beginning at 1 PM. The rally started with the speeches by several supporters and activists. The crowd which was sparse at the beginning started growing in its size within an hour as individual candidates arrived with their supporters in large numbers. This was followed by speeches by the prime candidates who aspire to fight DUSU elections on an ABVP ticket. Amidst shouting of support slogans of candidates, some of them spoke about their plans for the upcoming year, if they win the elections. The major plank on which ABVP is going to fight the elections this year is hostels, U-Special buses and supplementary exams.
While speaking at the rally some leaders took the credit of drawback of FYUP as well as printing of statement of marks. Some of the candidates also highlighted that keeping anti-national forces out of the University would be their prime focus. A brief spell of rains in the middle of the event forced the supporters to seek shelter under roofs available nearby. As the rains paused, the rally begun from the arts faculty and proceeded through the Ramjas College and then passed through the arts faculty through the road in front of SRCC. The rally ended with slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’.
Speaking to DU Beat, Saket Bahuguna-the national media convener of ABVP said “The rally was organised in the wake of elections. This coming out of students in large numbers is a wakeup call for the administration to fulfil our demands.”

Image credits: Srivedant Kar for DU Beat.
Srivedant Kar
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DUB Speak

How important is party, caste and gender in DUSU elections?

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Are there certain patterns that DUSU elections follow? How much of a role does ones caste, gender and socio-economic background play? With election season round the corner, we try to answer these questions.

Winning the students’ union elections in the University of Delhi is an immense feat. Major national political student parties like Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), National Students Union of India (NSUI), and All India Students Association (AISA) amongst others are the key players in the Delhi University Student’s Union (DUSU) elections.  Along with muscle-power and extensive campaigning, a lot of strategy goes into the DUSU elections. Are people from a community, gender, or political party more likely to win this election? We try to answer these questions through an analysis of past election data.

1) The rise of ABVP -The last time NSUI won all four DUSU posts was in 2007, some ten years ago. In the last ten years, ABVP has won the DUSU elections seven times (the criterion being winning three or more seats). Out of these seven times, in 2009 the ABVP won one seat. Howsoever the President (independent) and Joint Secretary (Samajwadi Chattra Sabha) publicly credited ABVP for their victory. Only twice was NSUI able to win majority seats in the panel. In 2012, both ABVP and NSUI won two seats each. In the last ten years, Delhi University has seen six ABVP, one independent (credits ABVP) and three NSUI Presidents. This shift in voting patterns is unconventional since DUSU had a NSUI stronghold for a long time.  From 1996 to 2008, NSUI maintained its position as the key player in DUSU politics, winning the majority of seats.

Source: @nupursharmabjp on Twitter
Nupur Sharma was the DUSU President in 2008. She won the Presidential seat for ABVP ending a long NSUI stronghold, surprising many. There has been no female DUSU President after her. Source: @nupursharmabjp on Twitter

2) Fall in the participation of women – Between 2011 and 2017, out of the twenty-four candidates that became a part of the DUSU panel, only five were women. The role of women in the last six years has been limited to the positions of General Secretary and Joint Secretary, with ABVP’s Priyanka Chhawri (Vice President) being the only exception. It would be strange perhaps to find out that women were not always relegated to the role of a token in DUSU politics. In fact between 2001 and 2010 women won twelve seats in DUSU overall with five of them being President and two being Vice President. Where there should have been an improvement in the position of women, there has been a decline. This fall in the number of female candidates winning and the lack of female DUSU Presidents is strange. In fact, while the awareness about gender-equality and feminism is greater than ever. While DUSU President of 2008, Nupur Sharma, believes this is because posters with faces were no more allowed; Ragini Nayak, DUSU President of 2005, believed it is so because the number of days of campaigning has been shortened to four or five days, and this kind of aggressive campaigning is easier for men to accomplish. (Source: Hindustan Times)

L-R: Priyanka Chhawri, Ankit Singh and Amit Tanvar after winning the 2016 DUSU elections. All four post holders in the 2016-17 DUSU union are from either the Jat or Gurjar community.
L-R: Priyanka Chhawri, Ankit Singh and Amit Tanvar after winning the 2016 DUSU elections. All four post holders in the 2016-17 DUSU union are from either the Jat or Gurjar community. Source: The Indian Express

3) The dominance of the Jat and Gurjar community – From 2011 to 2017, every DUSU President has been from either the Jat or the Gurjar community. The last four DUSU Presidents belonged to the Gujjar community while the two before them from the Gurjar community. In fact not just Presidents, but often the entire panel hails from these two communities. For instance, in 2016-17 all four post holders hailed from the Jat or Gurjar community. This dominance of certain communities in DUSU is recent but it clearly shows how major student parties are not shy of fielding candidates hailing from influential communities who have immense social capital at their disposal, in order to win.  

4) Emerging alternatives to ABVP and NSUI – Parties like AISA and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) have continuously been gaining relevance in DUSU politics. In the 2016 elections, on almost all posts, AISA candidates managed to secure the third highest vote share, thus securing its position as the third party in the DUSU political scene. It managed to secure a total of 30,000 seats. It also managed to secure an increase in its vote share for each post.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Kinjal Pandey

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Truth Behind ABVP Budget Image Made Viral by NSUI

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Right before elections, a photo uploaded by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) had started making rounds on the internet. The picture alleged the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of spending Rs. 22 lakhs out of the assigned 26 lakhs for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) budget on tea.

Soon, there was an outrage in the student community regarding the blatant misappropriation of expenses. NSUI officials claimed that Mr. Mohit Garid, the Joint Secretary of DUSU, provided the information as he has got access to all DUSU official records.

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But when DU Beat reached out to ABVP, the other side of the story was unfolded. Mr. Amit Tanwar, president of DUSU, explained that the document making rounds is the budget of DUSU and not the expenditure. He further told DU Beat that many other events were conducted which didn’t fall in any of the other categories, hence, were included in miscellaneous sections.

Mr. Saket Bahugana, the national media convenor of ABVP, shared with us the original complete document, which clearly reflects the signature of Mr. Mohit Garid on the document.

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Image Credits: DUSU office

 

Mr. Bahugana adds, “Why didn’t the Joint Secretary object to the budget while it was being proposed?” He also alleged that Mr. Garid had taken more than Rs. 5 lakhs from the DUSU fund but failed to utilise the money towards an event with the money.

 

Feature Image Credits: NSUI Twitter Handle 

 

Sandeep Samal

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DUSU Elections 2017

Ahead of DUSU Elections, ABVP Submits Memorandum to Election Officials, Forms Selection Committee

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With the election fever catching up in the University, ABVP has also upped its efforts to reach out to students in the campus. In the recent developments, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP) has submitted a memorandum to the Election Officials for the session 2017-18 to ensure a better election process. It has also formed a committee to select its candidates for the DUSU Elections 2017.

Submits memorandum to Election Officials for better Election Process

On August 26, 2017, a four member delegation of ABVP met the recently appointed DUSU-2017 Election Committee to raise some points of demands and give their suggestions for the smooth functioning of this year’s Delhi University’s Students’ Union (DUSU) polls.

Among various issues that the party highlighted, it requested for avoiding the ambiguity in the counting process of votes through proper numbered EVMs allotted to every college. They also asked the authorities to run an awareness campaign in order to increase the voting percentage and even asked for attendance benefit for the students who come to the college to vote on the election day.

They also took the issue of paper wastage with the authorities and demanded designated ‘Wall of Democracy’ in every college in order to reduce paper wastage.

Forms Committee to select official candidates 

The party has constituted Committee to select the official candidates of ABVP for the polls. The committee comprises of Dr Avnish Mittal-State President of ABVP, Dr Manu Kataria-National Executive Council member,  Monika Chaudhary-National Secretary, Bharat Khatana-State Secretary, Ajay Thakur-State Organizing Secretary, Abhishek Verma-State Joint Secretary and Amit Tanwar-the outgoing DUSU President.

The committee will select the candidates for the DUSU elections which is going to be held on September 12, said a press release which was issued Saket Bahuguna, the national media convener of ABVP.

 

 

Image Credits: ABVP

 

Oorja Tapan

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AISA at loggerheads with ABVP

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Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections are just around the corner and the anticipation is palpable even from quite a distance. With just a fortnight before its commencement, All India Students’ Association (AISA) has urged Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s intervention in subsuming the unwarranted and illegitimate practices of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliated Right Wing students’ political body Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

AISA has openly raised arguments about the alleged unethical behavior of ABVP goons and brought to light the ill temperament of right student wing delinquents in the university campus and particularly highlighted their near malevolent attitude towards Kawalpreet Kaur, AISA President, by calling her an “anti-national slut” and allegedly outraging her modesty.

“The ABVP has become the censor board in the campus and reserves the authority on what is allowed and what is not allowed…. The election cannot be free and fair as long as their violence continues,” Kawalpreet Kaur told the press of IANS live.

She has demanded the Delhi University’s administration to refrain from letting ABVP contest in the elections on account of their homicidal behavior during the incident in Ramjas College. She showed pictures of Ankit Basoya and Mahamedha Nagar, ABVP candidates, attacking protesters during the Ramjas incident. She also spoke about the fear that ABVP has entrenched in the campus with their blatant hooliganism.

They have drawn a very subtle parallel between Modi’s “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” campaign and ABVP’s alleged reputation for shamelessly using force on women and their supposed misogynistic treatment of the ilk. They have also suggested failure of Modi’s “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” under ABVP’s election campaigning which unabashedly involved soiling the varsity spaces with party pamphlets.

Sanjay Bohidar, a DU professor expressed his agitation towards ABVP in general and the government in particular for letting unscrupulous elements like that of ABVP to prosper. He was of the opinion that an atmosphere where even the police is under dire pressure and ceases to deliver justice, is anti-education, not because of one ideology domineering over the others but because of consensus of a common view under the ambit of that ideology.

He also recalled former DUSU President, Satender Awana’s outright tongue lashing at St. Stephen’s teacher, Nandita Narain and Law Faculty Dean Ved Kumari and how despite the severity of the event, the lack of prosecution by either the police or the university administration.

A video which went viral on social media platforms last year, witnessed Satender Awana verbally tormenting Ved Kumari in the presence of police and general public.

Another teacher from Shri Ram College of Commerce was of the view that the university premises lacked basic freedom and that there was no exhibition of cultural activities by any organisation other than ABVP.

In the light of the Ramjas incident which took place in February this year, AISA members accused ABVP, the alleged conspirers for physical assault and repeated threats. Similar cases have also undergone police intervention and legal trial. A very recent example of the same is Kawalpreet Kaur’s alleged harassment by ABVP activists in Satyawati College, immediately after which she approached the police to file an FIR.

The varsity is no doubt a sight of uneasy and murky politics as the election season unfolds and sets to witness the polls on September 12.

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Lakshita Arora

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Overturn of events: Satyawati College Principal denies incident, ABVP speaks against AISA Chief’s alleged sexual harassment claims

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On August 16,2017 All India Students’ Association (AISA) President, Kawalpreet Kaur  filed an FIR against Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members claiming charges of  physical restraint and verbal abuse , while she had gone to Satyawati College for some academic work.  Ms Kaur alleged in her complaint that ABVP members tried to bully her and called her an ‘anti-national slut’. She also proclaimed that the Principal of Satyawati College helped her to reach out to the police.

In a series of events following this incident,  Satyawati College Principal on August 21,2017 in a press release claimed the incident as hoax and even wrote to the SHO, ACP and DCP of Bharat Nagar Police Station mentioning that all charges put by Ms. Kaur, who is an outsider, are fake. In an official statement to DU Beat by the Media Convenor of ABVP, Mr. Saket Bahuguna  condemned the systematic propaganda and slander campaign against ABVP by some communists. The statement read as,” Repeatedly, Ms. Kaur and her comrades have tried to spread canards about our organization to get some publicity , especially after she and her Naxal- supporting  organisation was rejected by the student community in the DUSU elections.”

ABVP expressed shame on the  half- heard defamation charges without any solid evidence and their publicity by some media groups without knowing the entire reality from the students or authorities of Satyawati College . Keeping the upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections in mind,  AISA tried to spread slander and lies against ABVP and maligned its members’ image as claimed by the organisation of ABVP.

AISA in a press release on August 23, 2017, following these remarks carried out a signature campaign in support of Kawalpreet Kaur . Ms Kaur said, “It is  really saddening  that the principal has given into the pressure of ABVP. Such a statement by the Principal attempts to derail the entire case. Also , we have the call recordings and many messages that were sent to my friends in Satyawati  to persuade me to take the case back as well as the ‘receiving’ which was duly claimed by the Principal at the time of the incident. Thus , the Principal’s recent statement of denial stands false.” Niraj Kumar, State Secretary of Delhi State AISA said,” Why is the Principal shielding the culprits? It is this shielding that gives the audacity to harass women. We demand that the police should ensure a proper enquiry in the matter.”

The Principal in his statement mentions that the college opinion  was not taken into account by  the police department which is eagerly supported by the ABVP as well.  It is all up to the police  now to follow the due process of law and testify the truth as the matters have heated up now.

Image Credits: Facebook

Oorja Tapan

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Campus Central

Voices smothered at the Delhi School of Economics over “lack of space”

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In yet another instance of smothering the agents of discourse and discussion, the Delhi School Of Economics (DSE) postponed an event on the campus on grounds of ‘lack of space’.
The event, titled ‘DU Conversations Celebrate 70 Years of Indian Democracy’, was scheduled to be held on Thursday. It was being organised by ‘DU Conversations’, a group comprising students and teachers from different departments of Delhi University.
However, Pami Dua, the DSE director issued a notice stating that the event had to be ‘postponed due to lack of space’.
The organisers on the other hand, allege that the event was postponed even after obtaining prior permission.
The program was to have included songs of the freedom movement by a member of the Ambedkar Univerity, Delhi  faculty, a performance of Dastan-e Amir Hamza by DU history students and music by a workers band. In between, say the organisers, there were to have been two 15 minutes slots for open conversation about DU concerns, “including discrimination”.
Further, efforts of the students to approach the proctor of the university, hoping for an alternative venue, were squashed by the DU Chief Security Officer (CSO).
Denying rumours that students were invited to speak on the Ramjas issue at the event, organiser Rajat Sonkar said, “We did not invite anybody to speak on the Ramjas issue and, unlike some reports doing the rounds, we do not have any political affiliations” as told to The Hindu.
The students further said that they were persistently questioned by the police and charged with “baseless allegations”
On February 22, violent clashes had broken out between the ABVP – the student wing of the RSS – and students who were protesting the cancellation of a seminar where JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid were expected to speak. Since then, several events on campus aimed at discussing the political clashes in Ramjas college have been cancelled.
This has created an atmosphere of a bleak University space where voices and reason can’t sustain itself under the authority of the administration. The question remains, how long will this culture of muffling opinions under the garb of administrative judiciary, persist?

Feature Image Credits- The Wire

Ankita Dhar Karmakar
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The repeating points in manifestos every year in DUSU Elections

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As the election season is round the corner, there are a few questions we need to ask ourselves before you cast your precious vote. For the past many years these student unions have been releasing majestic manifestos. Has there been any progress? Has the University witnessed a change?
If you go through the manifestos of different parties, you’ll realise how similar they are in the amenities, provisions and campaigning techniques. The consecutive years have seen no major change in these manifestos; they remain focused on providing a safe environment for women, affordable hostel facilities, proper implementation of the Choice Based Credit System, formation of a North Eastern Cell, encouragement of anti-ragging and anti-discriminatory practices, and so on.
One might argue that change doesn’t happen in a day but the fact that certain parties have backed a seat or two (or more) in DUSU elections year after year and still the agendas they put forth remain the same is a matter of great concern. The students of the University of Delhi need to question their political presence and the allocation of resources that they garner.
Talking of ABVP, since 2014, certain bullet points have maintained their place in the list of agendas even after them coming consecutively to power. They include having a bank account for all the students of the University, hostels, safety from sexual harassment and discrimination, North East progression and preservation of their culture and rights, etc. It is alarming that such issues of grave concern still remain left to be addressed. The same story continues if we look at the manifesto of NSUI or even that of AISA.
Political ideology and inclination is what separates them because the demands and needs of the students are basic and every party knows the importance to assure the basic minimum requirements in their own ways. The problem arises when after capturing the seats, the funds are misused or muscle power becomes the means to address issues, staff and students alike.
One way by which we, being aware citizens of this University, can ensure greater credibility, responsibility and participation from their side is by continuously questioning them through the means of different forums regarding their earlier manifestos and the allocation of funds. The fact that we are the largest democracy of the world gives us an advantage over these parties who live in a constant fear of losing elections if they don’t perform to the best of their abilities. We have to target this weakness of them because this one vote that all of us have is our greatest strength.
Feature Image Credits: PV Purnima for DU Beat
Ananya Bhardwaj
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“They called me an anti-national slut” – AISA President alleges harassment by ABVP members at Satyawati College

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In another case of assault by ABVP members, Kawalpreet Kaur, the president of Delhi University All India Students Association (AISA) has alleged harassment by ABVP members as she visited Satyawati College. She alleges that the ABVP members harassed her, tried to physically restrain her and verbally abused her.

She has lodged a FIR against members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of RSS. The FIR has been registered under Section 154 of CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) along with Sections 354, 354(A), 509, 341 within the IPC 1860 Act against the ABVP activists.  The police complaint has been filed against Vikram Singh Tomar, ABVP convenor of Satyawati College, Dharamprakash, Adw-ait Sharma, Mantu Sharma and few unknown activists.

[quote]I had gone to Satyawati College in order to meet a professor there for my own academic work as well as to meet some of my friends and AISA activists. As soon I entered the college ABVP members gathered around me and started harassing me[/quote]

-Kawalpreet Kaur, AISA President, Delhi University

She alleged that the ABVP activists tried to bully her by saying  ‘tum kya kar rahi ho’, ‘show us your ID card’, ‘we shall not tolerate any anti-national activities here’, ‘Satyawati ko Ramjas nahi ban ne denge’. She resisted by saying that it was her right to visit any college. After this, the ABVP members started shooting her videos on their phones. As she resisted their action, she was abused by Dharam Prakash, whom she alleges as an outsider. “They questioned my nationality, called me a slut”, says Kawalpreet.  Meanwhile, one of the students who asked ABVP members to steer clear of her way was also roughed up by them.

Later hearing the commotion, the Principal of the college reached the scene and dispersed the crowd. “He supported me and helped me file a complaint against them”, says Kawalpreet.  She expects the police to take strict action against those who advocate for goonda-gardi in the campus.

Image Credits: News Nation

Oorja Tapan

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Campus Central

“Harmony Shall Win”: Poetry March on streets of Delhi University North Campus

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A “Poetry Procession” was organized by All India Student’s Association(AISA) at the University Of Delhi on  4th August (Friday). Students and AISA activists took out a poetry march with the theme “Harmony shall win.’ The march visited Ramjas College, Hindu College & Kirori Mal College protesting against the allegedly growing number of violent incidents on campus, reported Hindustan Times.

The students’ march from the front gate of Arts Faculty was followed by a large number of alert policemen, many of them in riot gear. Raising banners and singing songs, the marchers reached Ramjas College and took their procession inside the College campus.

When the participants entered Ramjas College, they were met by protests by members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who shouted slogans like “anti-national AISA get out of campus.” Slogans of “AISA campus chodo” and “Deshdrohi naare lagane walon, wapas jao” were also heard. Police officers accompanying the procession prevented any untoward incident.

While speaking to Hindustan Times Saket Bahuguna, the National media convener of ABVP denied the presence of any ABVP activists there and said that the resisting students were probably Ramjas Students. But one of the ABVP members Sudhir Dedha while speaking to Times of India accepted the fact that it was ABVP members who protested against the march. He said, “We will not tolerate their presence and will keep protesting against them.’

At Hindu College, the students were not allowed to enter the premises hence they registered their protest by singing songs and reading poetry outside the college gates.  Hindu College principal Anju Shrivastava, however, said she had been busy at the time and was not even aware of the protest at the college gates or that they were denied entry.

Meanwhile speaking to Hindustan Times about the reason behind the protests, Kawalpreet Kaur said “We wanted to break the silence, that is borne out of fear amongst many in Delhi University Campus. In the light of what has happened in Ramjas, SRCC, and other DU colleges, we wanted to convey a message that violence on campus cannot be normalized.”

Image Credits: Hindustan Times

 

Sandeep Samal

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