Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
Tag

ABVP

Browsing
Campus Central

ABVP achieves clean sweep, claims 7 of 11 DUSU Executive Councillor Posts

By

Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad wins 7 out of the 11 Executive Councillor Posts at the Delhi University Students’ Union Elections, as declared this Tuesday.

 

On Tuesday, 22nd October 2019, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) claimed 7 out of 11 Councillor Posts in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) Executive Committee.

 

ABVP’s Tushar Baisla secured the position of the first councillor with the highest number of votes. The posts of executive councillors went to ABVP’s Vaibhav Chaudhry, Nishulk Kharb, Taranprit Kaur, Suryansh Singh, Ravindra Beniwal and Shubham Chaudhry.

 

In a press release by the ABVP on Tuesday, Sidharth Yadav, State Secretary, ABVP Delhi said, “ABVP’s victory in the Executive Councillor election is a testament to the emergence of a tenacious and proficient cadre of student activists. That ABVP has found its feet as a sincere representative of students’ interests is evidenced by the popular support it enjoys across the entire spectrum of the student community.”

 

In the same press release, Akshit Dahiya, President DUSU, and Pradeep Tanwar, Vice-President DUSU, congratulated the winners and said, “After the victory in the Central Panel and for the posts of Central Councillors, the victory of ABVP in Executive Committee elections certifies the trust of students in us. Vibrant student activism in DU has given leadership not only in politics but also in other fields such as corporate, education, management, science etc. We will work alongside the Central Council and Executive Committee in the interests of the students.”

 

ABVP volunteers held celebrations in Delhi University’s North Campus after the declaration of results. “Executive Committee is democratically an important part of the Delhi University Students’ Union. The structure of the Delhi University Students’ Union differs from other students’ unions due to the affiliation of colleges. Already the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad had a majority in the Central Council and now also has a majority in the Executive Committee. We have already started work on the 5P model that we gave in our manifesto and are trying to do whatever is possible through the student union, We will try to give our best. We thank all the students of Delhi University and the members of DUSU Central Council for this great victory,” Ashutosh, ABVP’s Delhi Media Conveyor, told DU Beat.

 

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad won three seats in the Delhi University Students Union Elections conducted recently.

 

Featured Image Credits- Indian Express

Shreya Juyal

[email protected]

 

 

Keep Reading
By
Admissions

ABVP Protests Against Nepotism in Admissions

By

ABVP protests against fraud and nepotism in the admission process of a Ph.D./M.Phil. student and violation of UGC regulations by the Department of Political Science of the University of Delhi (DU).

Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) volunteers gathered at the Faculty of Arts and marched to the Department of Political Science on 18th October, 2019, for the second day of their protest against the administration of Political Science Department for the ongoing corruption, nepotism and violation of University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines in the admission process.

The Department of Political Science has allegedly conducted its Ph.D./ M.Phil. admissions without adherence to UGC regulations and University of Delhi statutes, resulting in favouritism and negligence of merit. ABVP has been protesting since the 17th October, 2019 against the fraud in the admission process in the Ph.D. of this Department, violation of rules and regulations of University Grant Commission, and favouritism in the admission process. According to the Press Release issued by ABVP, a group of Professors, who are ideologically intolerant of liberal ideas, they are denying admission to the meritorious students.

This protest has come after discrepancies in the 2019 admissions. Apparently, on 7th October, the list of the selected candidates was published. However, after two hours, it was removed and a new list was published. The only difference, it no longer had the name of a girl belonging to the Scheduled Castes category. The administration of the Department has not given the reasons for the removal of the name yet. Moreover, only 13 seats out of the 18 available seats were opened for admission.

Ashutosh Singh, State Media In-charge for ABVP, said to DU Beat, “We came to know through the students that the professors tend to give preference to their favourite students in the viva for the entrance exam, neglecting the ones who are also deserving. Last year it came to our notice that even the top ranking students of the entrance exam were not able to get admission after the viva. How is it possible for the top rankers to completely fail in viva?”

ABVP has asked the administration of Political Science Department seven questions regarding the inconsistencies in the admission process and has given the administration an ultimatum to answer their queries by Monday. ABVP claims to also have written letters to the Dean of Political Science Department, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi and Vice President of India for this purpose. Apart from this, the ABVP volunteers have also placed the following demands:

  1. Make admission process to M.Phil./Ph.D. fair and transparent.
  2. The admission process must be centralized and time-bound.
  3. Admission must be conducted in adherence to UGC regulations and the University of Delhi statutes.
  4. All the seats offered by DU prospectus for Ph.D. intake should be fulfilled at the earliest by all the Departments.
  5. The number of seats for the research must be increased.
  6. Social Justice must be implemented in all its constitutional and legal dimensions.
  7. The UGC prescribed 70:30 ratio of written exam to viva-voce must be implemented with all its transparency.
  8. The examination process must be student-friendly and the bureaucratic red-tapism must be curbed.
  9. Steps must be taken to curtail the influence of Teachers’ politics on the admission process.
  10. Address the grievances of those students who have been denied admission on fraudulent grounds.

Siddharth Yadav, State Secretary, ABVP Delhi, said in the Press Release, “Administration of Political Science Department should not think that yesterday we were here only for a symbolic protest, we will continue our protest till the student interests are not secured. Our protest will turn into a revolution if the administration will not listen to our demands.”

 

Featured Image Credits: University of Delhi 

Satviki Sanjay

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts Faculty

Faculty of Arts Echoes with Protests for Jadavpur University

By

Saturday, 21st September, saw a series of protests concerning the Jadavpur University unrest in West Bengal. On one hand, All India Students’ Association (AISA), Pinjra Tod, and Students’ Federation of India (SFI) protested against the actions of Babul Supriyo and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) supporters at the Jadavpur University. On the other hand, ABVP protested against left terror and condemned the heckling of Supriyo.

On Saturday, 21st September 2019, two protests broke out in the Faculty of Arts, North Campus of the Delhi University (DU). The first protest was organised by Pinjra Tod, AISA, SFI along with other left supporters, condemning the actions of the ABVP supporters and Babul Supriyo at Jadavpur University. In response, a counter-protest was held by members of the ABVP, calling for an end to “Left Terror” and “Red Terror” across the country, condemning the heckling of Supriyo at Jadavpur University.

The left-leaning parties and Pinjra Tod arrived at the Faculty of Arts first. The protest, planned for 12 p.m, began at 12:15 p.m. because the police force present on the venue impeded it. After reconciliation with the police force, the left began their protest surrounded by barricades with slogans like, “ABVP ki gundagardi, nahi chalegi! (Hooliganism by ABVP would not be accepted!)” and “ladenge tumse kadam kadam pe!  (We will fight against injustice every step of the way!)” Outside these barricades, ABVP supporters began their own protest, condemning and to stop leftist and red terrorism, and violence, while chanting, “Desh ke gaddaro ko, goli maaro saalo ko! (We need to kill off the traitors!)”

Following this, the Akshit Dahiya and Shivangi Kharwal, the President and Joint Secretary of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) respectively, addressed the crowd. Thereafter, ABVP proceeded to move closer to the leftist protest and burnt effigies with “Left Terror” and “Red Terror” written on them. When the effigy burning did not faze the leftist parties, the ABVP supporters went closer to barricades and shouted slogans like, “Bharat mata ki Jai! (Long live Mother India!)” and “Left Unity Muradabad! (Go down Left Unity!)” This resulted in the leftist parties and Pinjra Tod to turn to the barricades and chant, “Azadi!”

Sidharth Yadav, Delhi State Secretary of the ABVP, told DU Beat, “The incident is shameful! Does the freedom of expression allow anyone to pull [a] union minister by his hair? Tear a guest’s shirt? Manhandle a woman? Is what left did in Jadhavpur University not mob lynching?  It’s high time we stop our selective outrage and expose such people. The left only believes in violence and this is what they have done in Kerala, bengal, JNU; wherever they are in power. We won’t tolerate this in DU. DU stand with Jadhavpur University and the space of debate and dissent won’t end here.”

While Kawalpreet Kaur, President of AISA, commented, “From JU to DU, wherever there is a strong students’ voice against BJP’s anti-people and anti-student policies, BJP government unleashes an all out attack on campus democracy.” She also added that DU students stood up when ABVP had vandalised a seminar in Ramjas College, and will also stand up against ABVP’s hooliganism across the country.

We contacted members of the SFI and Pinjra Tod for detailed responses, but they were unable to provide a comment on the same.

Feature Image Credits: Gauri Ramchandani for DU Beat

Shreya Juyal

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Delhi Court Refuses Bail to DUSU Ex-President Baisoya

By

Ankiv Baisoya, former leader from Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has been refused bail by a Delhi Court. Baisoya was elected as the president of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), shortly after which he tendered his resignations when the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) alleged that he had proffered fake certificates.

Former ABVP leader, Ankiv Baisoya’s bail application in the fake mark sheet case has been dismissed by a Delhi Court. They observed that this “custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the racket of making forged and fabricated mark sheets/degrees”, as reported by the Indian Express.

Baisoya acquired admission under the University of Delhi’s (DU) M.A. program in Buddhist Studies course in July and submitted mark sheets from Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvalluvar University (TU) for B.A. as his qualifying certification. The ABVP leader was elected DUSU president on 13th September 2018. Soon after the polls, the NSUI alleged he had submitted fake certificates, amidst these allegations the TU registrar wrote to the Tamil Nadu Department of Higher Education, stating that Baisoya was neither enrolled in the Varsity nor any of its constituents or affiliated institutions. Hence, Baisoya revoked his Presidency and was dismissed from ABVP. His candidature was taken by Shakti Singh, who remained President for DUSU 2018-19.

As reported by Indian Express, sessions Judge Mohammad Farrukh, in his order, said, “the investigation, in this case, is still going on and the applicant/accused is not cooperating in the investigation and has not disclosed the name of the person from whom the forged and fabricated mark sheet was obtained”. Reeta Sharma, the counsel for Delhi Police, told the court that Baisoya had not joined the investigation in the case, and asked the court to issue non-bailable warrants against him.

On the other hand, Baisoya’s advocates, Zeeshan Hashmi, and Salman Hashmi, revealed that he is busy appearing for another Court Case registered in 2017 where he is accused of entering Daulat Ram College in 2017 and damaging college property during a protest.

DU Beat contacted Mr. Siddharth Yadav, State Secretary, ABVP for a response but but he was unavailable to comment on the same.

Feature Image Credits: The Print

Shreya Juyal
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

Done and Dusted: DUSU Elections 2019

By

The declaration of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) results on 13th September ended a month of hooliganism, ruckus, and violation of rules in the name of campaigning.

Every year, the months of August and September witness frenzy and chaos. The roads are littered with flyers and posters, a number of posters with misspelt names of the candidates are pasted on the walls in the Campus area, and rallies pave way for traffic jam. This year too, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won three seats out of four, establishing their majority in the
DUSU.

The voter turnout was recorded at 39.9 percent this year, over four notches down from the last year voter turnout. One of the key points highlighted in this year’s manifestoes of various student political organisations was less wastage of paper. However, candidates contesting DUSU elections clearly violated this rule. The shocking thing here is, that even though the University has a regulatory authority to check these violations, no one comes forward to point these; not even the administration. It is easy to notice all the enthusiasm of the  newly elected office bearers slowly fade away as we inch closer to the end of the year.

I remember, during an interview with Sunny Chillar, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Presidential candidate for DUSU elections, 2018, the demand of a subsidised INR 10 thali (platter) was discussed. The students of the University were assured that no matter what the election results would be, the thali will be provided to them, since, over 70 percent of students are from the economically weaker sections of the society. A common agenda discussed by both the ABVP and the NSUI almost every year is concessional Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation bus passes for the students of the University of Delhi (DU). However, we, as students, are only able to see a few protest marches and letters written to different ministers and the Administration. On questioning about the same to our student leaders, they reply, “It will happen soon.” Will it be soon enough, for the next set of candidates, to put forward the same demand in next year’s manifesto?

In the race of winning the elections, what the student leaders forget is the reason they are running for the position. Is it for fame? Or, is it for representing and working for the student community? Attacks on opponents are not something new in the election season. The sad part here is, that most of the students of the University equate DUSU election season to violence in and around Campus. The manifestoes talk about the safety of students but, in reality, election season makes us, the student community, feel more unsafe than ever.

Did you know that the DUSU also has a constitution of its own? Yes, most of you do not. The official website of the University has a link to the Constitution. It is a 16-page document which roughly has eight chapters that broadly discuss the functioning, funding, and objectives of the Union. The Vice Chancellor of the University is the Patron, and takes all the necessary steps for the smooth  functioningof DUSU in accordance with the DUSU Constitution. The underlying fact is that, even though all this has been defined in the Constitution, our very own elected student leaders fail to abide by it. Or rather, they forget the ideals upon which the Constitution was established. It is sad to see them absent from the important student-related issues but they are present when a Bollywood celebrity visits a college.

Concluding in the words of Srivedant Kar, former Associate Editor of DU Beat, “It’s high time these elections stop referring to things that the Union cannot do and instead start becoming a fight about what the Union can, and should, do.”

Anoushka Sharma 

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

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

By

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

[email protected] 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Campaigning: Ways and Waste

By

The campaigning for Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) runs throughout August and September every year. However, these campaigns are not eco-friendly in the least, let us see how.

 

The student politics at the University of Delhi (DU) is a microcosm of our country’s political scenario. With examples like Arun Jaitley, former Union Finance Minister who was the DUSU President in 1973, student politicians at DU believe that they can be the ‘leaders of tomorrow’. Unfortunately, these ‘leaders of tomorrow’ are unaware of the amount of waste produced by them during political campaigning.
While walking through the streets of North Campus during campaigning months, one will come face-to-face with pamphlets, flyers, posters, brochures, and press invites littered on the roads. Students with political affiliations throw these posters out of their cars to ‘promote’ their leaders. Colleges like College of Vocational Studies, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, and Sri Venkateswara College in the South Campus, which are affiliated to the DUSU, also bear the brunt of such hooliganism.

During the 2015 DUSU elections, as reported by The Hindu, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued a notice to the Centre, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the huge amount of paper being wasted in campaigning. Similarly in 2017, as reported by Firstpost, in an article titled “In North Campus, Student Bodies kick Swachh Bharat Abhiyan out of the Window”, Delhi High Court and the NGT expressed their shock over the massive misuse of pamphlets, flyers, and posters during the DUSU elections.
Since then, certain walls in the Campus were designated as the ‘Walls of Democracy’ where one was allowed to paste as many election-related posters as they wanted. But, even the 2018 elections saw the brunt of major exploitation of paper to an extent that the then sitting President, Rocky Tuseed, carried out a cleaning drive and removed the posters from near the Vishwavidyalaya metro station.

Despite being condemned over the years for their excessive use of paper in printing pamphlets, brochures, cards, and invites, the DUSU elections continue to be a hub of ecological hazard, producing extensive amounts of paper waste and littering the whole of North Campus by sticking posters on walls and littering flyers on the roads. Chhatra Marg still remains the most affected where a week before elections, we can see posters and pamphlets in every corner and niche.

As decoded by ScoopWhoop Unscripted in their video titled “How to Win a DUSU Election”, “the posters are simple and cheap; you can see it stuck on walls all over Delhi, that’s when you know that the Delhi University Elections are here.” One would believe that posters become a cheap method of promoting a campaign, inviting the masses to events organised by a particular party, and facilitate mobilisation. But, the aforementioned video revealed that INR five to six lakhs are spent in the printing process.
On the other hand, the Lyngdoh Committee, set up in 2006, only allows a small budget of INR 5,000 for campaigning and election-related activities. It also states that only handmade posters are to be used for canvassing and campaigning.

Hence, the huge waste of paper in DUSU elections is not only ethically and morally wrong, but it is also illegal.
Jaishree, a third-year student from Ramjas College pursuing B.A. (Honours) History, stated, “Nothing has changed here in the last three years, the walls are still decorated with multiple posters of the same candidate, underneath it lie decaying posters of yesteryear candidates. The heaps of garbage that the karamchaaris are made to clean every day is alarming. With climate change upon us, you’d really think that candidates would give a damn about the environment, but no.”

Feature Image Credits: Prabhanu Kumar Das

Sakshi Arora

[email protected] 

Keep Reading
By
News

DUSU Poll Turnout Clocked at 40 Percent: Less Voters, More Lags

By

This year’s voter turnout for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) polls saw a considerable dip. The voting process in a few centres and colleges saw hiccups pertaining to a clash between the students and the Electric Voting Machines (EVMs).

The past month in the University of Delhi (DU) campuses and colleges saw a flurry of activities characterised by loud sloganeering, flashy SUVs and a lot of campaigning for the recently concluded DUSU polls.

The voting percentage in this year’s polls saw a considerable dip of four percentage points, this year. The overall voter turnout was recorded at 39.9%. The 43 morning colleges and departments which had conducted polling for independent posts as well, registered a voting percentage just below 40%, at 39.89%, which is over three percentage points less than last year’s 43.8%.

This year’s percentage turnout dipped below 2012’s 42.5% and came close to 2016’s lowest percentage of 36.9%.

Polling at nine centres, where voting went on till 7:30 p.m., as well as in the 43 colleges where voting concluded at 1:00 p.m., saw a footfall of close to 52,000 voters in all. Over 1.3 lakh students were eligible to vote in this year’s polls. This excludes the number of eligible voters in colleges of the varsity that are not associated with the DUSU such as Lady Shri Ram College, St. Stephen’s College, Daulat Ram College, etc.

Colleges also voted for their particular college union posts and even as the counting was underway, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) stated that it had won at least one post out of all, in each of the 35 colleges. “We have swept the entire panel in Bhaskaracharya College, Ramanujan College, Rajdhani College, and Shri Ram College of Commerce. We are finding out the numbers by and by,” claimed the ABVP’s media in-charge Ashutosh Singh, in conversation with the Indian Express. Meanwhile, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) claimed that it was leading the Union and was in the majority in 22 colleges. The ABVP has emerged victorious in the polls this year, yet again, with three of the main panel posts (those of President, Vice-President, and Joint Secretary) being bagged by them. Only one seat of the panel, that of the Secretary has gone to the candidate from the NSUI.

The day’s voting also saw a couple of hiccups along the way. The NSUI complained about police presence after their Joint Secretary candidate Abhishek Chaprana was detained by police from Dyal Singh College. He was later released after being questioned briefly, The NSUI also complained about EVM malfunctioning at Aryabhatta College. “…in Aryabhatta College, the EVM is malfunctioning against NSUI. When the ballot is pressed for NSUI candidate, the EVM does not light up to indicate the registration of vote… We say no to elections being hijacked by thugs and frauds,” said NSUI’s national in-charge Ruchi Gupta.

The University’s election office denied it to be a case of EVM malfunction, but replaced the machine nonetheless.

Feature Image Credits: Namrata Randhawa for DU Beat

Bhavya Pandey

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

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

By

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

Avni Dhawan

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

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

By

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

IMG_3775

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

Chhavi Bahmba

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By