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DUSU elections through the lens of a regular college student

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DUSU Elections through the eyes of a regular college student

If ten years down the line someone asked me about the things I missed from my days spent in Delhi University, one of my answers would include election season! But, before you think that I’m a super active political party supporter or contesting candidate, let me tell you that I’m just a regular college student. Except voting, I’m not involved in any kind of political activity.

Here are some of the good, bad and weird things that happen and people you meet during the DUSU elections, from the perspective of a normal college student!

The white walkers

No, I’m not talking about the Game of Thrones. But beware of them if you are running late for your lectures as once caught, they would only let you leave when you would’ve heard their whole manifesto and memorised their party’s ballot numbers with their candidates’ name echoing in your head for a very long time.

The shouting drones

Well, these can give you a headache! They are posted everywhere- inside the metro station, near escalators, stairs and the road leading to your college, college gate. In short, they flank the road till you get inside the college building. They are from different parties, so as soon as they spot a person, their shouting competition begins. You cannot avoid them but, you can avoid the headache. Just plug in headphones and walk.

The class disruptors

These are my favourites but, only during super boring or miserable lectures. They ask the professors for ‘just two minutes’ and barge in. Sometimes, the professor may start scolding them which is pretty entertaining to watch.

You can’t avoid them but you can always be entertained by them. Use this precious disruption for a quick selfie, texting, Facebook update, Snapchat or just a power nap session!

There are other things in store for every student during the DUSU elections- walking on a carpet of pamphlets, getting freebies to ‘vote and support’ candidates even as they talk about honesty in their agendas and a lot of annoying text messages and phone calls too. The election shindig is indeed an amusing, albeit annoying, time in DU!

Image Credits: Nidhi Panchal for DU Beat

Nidhi Panchal

[email protected]

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DUB News

DU Beat’s DUSU Opinion Poll- What we learnt

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DUSU Opinion Poll by Aditya Rathore

Delhi University goes to polls for the Student Union elections on Friday, September 11. With NSUI, AISA and the newcomer CYSS aiming to topple ABVP off the top, DU Beat attempted to gauge what is running through an average DU student’s mind.by conducting an online DUSU Opinion Poll which was taken by hundreds of students. Here are the key takeaways from the results:-

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By Aditya Rathore for DU Beat

1) ABVP barely edging past CYSS

After a clean sweep in the DUSU elections last year with a clear margin, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) seems to be headed for another win this year too, with almost 35% of the respondents giving them their vote. Their decisive margin of victory might be in trouble because of Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), the student wing of AAP that will be making its debut in the DUSU elections this year. CYSS takes the second position, with nearly 31% respondents saying they will vote for them. These are followed by All India Students’ Association (AISA), The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and other parties, who have 14.7%, 13.2% and 6.6% of the votes respectively.

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2) Second consecutive term for ABVP after a “meh” year

ABVP’s lead in the polls is not surprising but definitely worth pondering over, given that most respondents-around 44% of them- rated the outgoing union (led by ABVP) as not up to the mark. Only a mere 20% of the respondents rated their performance as ‘Brilliant’, while 34% opted for ‘Poor’. The right-wing party has been criticised for its stand against homosexuality and live-in relationships, which might have led to a decrease in their approval in the progressive atmosphere of the University. Their push for important issues like the rollback of the FYUP, reintroduction of revaluation and ‘special chance’ may get them enough votes to secure another win.Fullscreen capture 982015 92033 PM.bmp

3) Rent regulation a hot topic yet again

Rent regulation for flats and PG accommodations as well as more hostels emerged as the most important agenda (31.6%), followed by the Curriculum (20%) which has been under fire because of the implementation of the hotly debated Choice Based Credit System (27.1%). These were followed by the ever-relevant demands for more colleges and seats as a way to counter the astronomically high cut-offs (20%), better Transportation facilities (6.7%) and calls for Gender Equality (6.7%). 

Related reading: What is rent regulation and why is it such a big deal

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4) Parties’ national affiliations a major deciding factor- ‘Modi wave’ still doing the trick for ABVP?

Another notable result was the importance respondents gave to the national political alignment of student bodies. It’s common knowledge that all parties in DUSU are associated with some or the other National political party, like ABVP with BJP, and NSUI with Congress. According to the results, this association affects the voting decisions of more than 51% respondents. This might be due to the understanding that if the party reigning DUSU is in sync with the national or state government, it would ensure smooth functioning and better and faster implementation of changes.

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5) Over half the respondents offered freebies

Ironically, with all the cacophony about ‘cleaning’ student politics and reducing muscle power, a whooping 57% respondents witnessed or were offered freebies in an attempt to woo them for their votes. Parties have been known to openly flout the rules by offering movie tickets and *ahem* organising concerts. 

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As a follow up to the DUSU Opinion Poll and to ensure the parties get a structured platform to present their agendas to students and that students get to make an informed decision, DU Beat is organising Delhi University’s first Presidential Debate at 6 PM, 9 September at Press Club of India, Raisina Road. The debate will be streamed live. Read more about it here. Here’s hoping for clean polls and an effective and decisive Union that puts the interest of the students first!

 

 

Disclaimer: The results have been drawn solely from the responses we received. DU Beat does not claim for these to be the actual results of Delhi University Students’ Union election 2015.

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Delhi University students demand NOTA option in DUSU elections

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With the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections right around the corner, students of Delhi University, notably from Law Faculty, have handed a memorandum to the election officer to include a ‘None of the above’ or NOTA button in the upcoming DUSU elections 2015-16 which will be held on 11th September.

As conveyed by the students in the memorandum, they believe that in DUSU elections, voting percentage is very low and they claim the main reason behind this slow voter turnout in the current time is due to the absence of NOTA button in Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

The students have related this with India’s past history of recording negative voting during elections and the introduction of NOTA button two years ago. Verdict of the Supreme Court came in the year of 2013 on the petition of PUCL, in which Honorable Supreme Court directed the election commission of India to provide NOTA button in the EVM. This was to preserve the legacy of negative voting which is cardinal principle of democracy. Prior to this, there was a mechanism present to record negative voting.

In the existing Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, the students conveyed through the memorandum that a dissatisfied student voter won’t turn up on the day of elections to vote if none of the candidates are of their choice. However, they are hopeful that if the NOTA option is provided, then reluctant student voters will begin turning up to vote which will increase credibility and acceptability of DUSU elections amongst the DU student body. They believe it will initiate a gradual but systematic change and only those students will contest elections who believe in the principles of accountability and integrity.

Shaina Ahluwalia

[email protected]

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Campus Central

DUSU Elections 2013: Everything you need to know

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Delhi University Students Union is set to hold its elections on 13th September 2013 after the list of the final candidates comes out on 6th September 2013. So if you plan to be the face of DUSU this year, buckle up, because like in all the other elections in the country, you need to put your best foot forward (even if the shoe is rented). Before you put on those Nehru Jackets and prepare the speeches to woo the crowds, a very careful look into the rules for the aspiring applicants is a must.

  • For starters, the applicant must not hold any criminal record of any kinds, must not be repeating a year and should be a regular DU student between the age 17 and 22 (25 for Post Graduate Students).
  • While campaigning, candidates have to keep in mind that they don’t hurt religious sentiments, bribe students, and pass derogatory remarks against women or any communities. Failure to do so shall lead to disqualification of the candidate.
  • Also, a candidate cannot hold the same office twice.
  • The maximum amount of money that an individual candidate can spend for the purpose of campaigning is Rs.5000. No loudspeakers, animals or vehicles are permitted for the purpose of canvassing.
  • No candidate is allowed to deface or destroy any of the college properties including their websites or Facebook pages.
For further reference one can also refer to the complete code of conduct for the elections (2013-2014) issued by the University. However, in order to help the candidates to voice their opinions, DU also has certain facilities in place
  • The DU computer centre shall upload the propaganda material of various candidates.
  • The candidates shall be allowed a fixed time (which presently is 10 minutes) on DU Community Radio 90.4 for campaigning.
Yet another aspect of the DUSU elections is the clash between the contesting students and the whole political scene inevitably turns ugly. To ensure that the elections are held smoothly, DU has established a Grievance Committee headed by the Dean, Student’s Welfare to address and clarify any election related problems. Also, Delhi Police is on high alert during the election time to make sure that any sudden outbreak of violent propagandists does not lead to any major problems. But, irrespective of the up’s and down’s, the DUSU elections give the students an opportunity to make a real difference in the way that the university functions. For all those who want to change the way the University functions, this is your chance to make a difference. All those who want to access the application forms or know more about the Elections, can refer to the DUSU elections section on the DU website. Image Credit: freedigitalphotos.net]]>

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Campus Central

DUSU Elections 2012- NSUI beats ABVP

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Saturday, September 15, 2012 Congress’ student wing NSUI swept the Delhi University Students Union polls, winning all three top posts of president, vice president and secretary. NSUI’s Arun Hooda defeated, a margin of 5,465 votes. As against Arun who got 17,621 votes Choudhry secured just 12,156 votes.

For the post of vice president NSUI’s Varun Khari defeated ABVP’s Gaurav Chaudhary, and Varun Choudhry won the post of secretary by defeating ABVP’s Ritu Rana. There was a tie between NSUI’s Raveena Choudhary and ABVP’s Vishu Basoya for the position of Joint Secretary.

“I am extremely happy, it was indeed a well deserved victory” says a supporter of the winning president Arun Hooda.

The DUSU elections were held yesterday in which 40% polling was reported. The ABVP is obviously not satisfied with the results and alleged rigging in the elections and staged protest at the Delhi Universitycampus, to control which the police had to resort to lathi charge. Since the morning, the area near the University Plaza and Dean Student welfare where the counting was taking place was cordoned off by the police and nobody, not even the media was allowed in.

 

Aishwarya
[email protected]

Picture credits: Swadha Singh

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Campus Central

Ban on Student Rallies after Harassment Incident

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It’s election time again and all Delhi University political parties are coming out of hibernation. They really wanted to make a mark and what a way they chose.

On 31st August, a girl from Indraprastha College for Women was molested in North Campus. The incident happened in the afternoon on the road opposite Daulat Ram College when a DUSU rally passed by. The girl was in a rickshaw when she got caught in the middle of the procession, was pulled down the rickshaw and harassed by several men.

While this incident happened, several policemen were on duty and did absolutely nothing to help her. One of her close friends described this behavior of the police as preposterous and inhuman. When the university authorities were contacted the first question asked was whether the girl was wearing decent clothes or not. “I was shocked to hear them ask me this question and felt like strangling them through the phone” said another of her classmates.

On 1st September, the college union and several of her close friends along with the victim went to the Commonwealth Sports Complex in North Campus to talk to the Vice Chancellor. The VC had already heard of the event as it went viral on the social network and denied entry to each and every student of IP College. Special orders were given to the guard to not allow the students inside. The students waited outside for half an hour. Finally when the principal Ms. Babli Saraf intervened, the students were allowed inside and given a chance to speak their demands. The students wanted action to be taken on the behavior of the policemen and wanted all such rallies banned. The VC promised to look into the matter and insured that some action would be taken.

Later on the same day, the proctor issued an order banning all rallies and demonstrations in North Campus. Also, not more than four people will be allowed to canvas the area at a time. This probably must be the fastest that DU authorities have responded after filing of a complaint. One of the contesting parties ABVP however, was quoted saying that it will “go ahead with a rally in North Campus in favour of women’s safety despite the ban.”

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