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DUSU Elections 2017

NSUI Objects to Broadcast of PM Modi’s Speech One Day Before DUSU Elections

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The Ministry of Human Resource Development had recently issued a direction to nearly 40,000 higher education institutions to tune into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech, to be delivered on 11 September, in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s famous address at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago.

The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), which is the student wing of the Indian National Congress, has specifically condemned these actions taken by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to promote and telecast the speech in every Delhi University college just a day before the DUSU elections are scheduled.

In a press release today, the NSUI Media In-Charge, Neeraj Mishra, said, “Forcing this in Delhi University will be a flagrant violation of the moral code on conduct since the elections for the DUSU are scheduled on September 12, day after PM’s address. ABVP, one of the organisations contesting the DUSU elections is closely linked to the ruling party, the BJP.” (sic). Midrash Mathew, Media Department, NSUI, said, “It is well known that the UGC and the government are linked since the UGC works under the government directives. By telecasting the speech of our Prime Minister in all colleges of DU, it will only help further ABVP’s agenda since the speech is on Swami Vivekananda and it will actively reflect and propagate the ideologies followed by ABVP. This will be a clear violation of the moral code of conduct set by the Lyngdoh Committee, and ABVP will greatly benefit from it. Hence, the speech should not be streamed in Delhi University as it is unfair.”

NSUI issued another press release today in which they requested the Chief Election Officer (CEO) of DUSU to extend the campaigning time and election day by four days, while restricting other candidates to campaign during this time. The presidential candidate of NSUI, Rocky Tuseed, received his ballot number yesterday evening after the High Court directed the CEO. The Officer had prohibited Tuseed from campaigning for two days while the other candidates were actively campaigning. Neeraj Mishra pointed out that since the University is closed over the weekend, and the campaigning officially has to stop at 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning, Tuseed will get no time to campaign.

The CEO rejected the request put forth by the NSUI by stating that the office was constrained by the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines which directed the University to conduct the elections within 56 days. On this matter, Midrash Mathew said, “A bigger mandate of the Lyngdoh Committee is to conduct free and fair elections. If the elections are not postponed, our presidential candidate will get no time to go to students and make them aware about his views and campaign. Because of the accusations put on us, we were left in the dark when the ballot number was taken away. However, the High Court’s decision came in our favour. Hence the CEO should take our request into account.”

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Rocky Tuseed after being cleared to contest for DUSU elections. Image Credits: The Hindu

 

DU Beat reached out to multiple official representatives of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), but none were available for comment.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Bhavya Banerjee
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DUSU Elections 2017

NSUI’s Presidential Candidate’s Nomination Cancelled, Party Gets a New Face

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The National Students Union of India(NSUI), the student wing of the Indian National Congress(INC) got a rude shock when it discovered that its presidential candidate for DUSU Elections, Rocky Tuseed was missing from the final list of candidates released by the Cheif Election Office(CEO) office. Rocky Tuseed’s name was missing from the list released by CEO’s office which comprised of six other presidential candidates including Rajat Choudhary of ABVP and Parul Chauhan of AISA.
The cancellation of nomination was on the grounds of “disciplinary actions” based on an incident that happened during Tuseed’s time at Shivaji College.
NSUI called for a press conference this afternoon at Arts faculty to express resentment about the scenario. Ruchi Gupta, National In-charge of NSUI alleges that no certain definition of ‘disciplinary action’ has been defined by the Election Commission of DU. She further adds “ Without a clear definition, there is bound to be arbitrary applications of a standard which are bad in law.” Tuseed has contested and won as president in departmental elections (also under DUSU) last year. Ruchi Gupta told DU beat that “DU election commission can’t apply differential standards in two separate academic years.”
Mr Tuseed showed a copy of his character certificate issued to him by his college to DU beat. The principal of Shivaji college, however, denied that they had issued a good conduct certificate to him, while also refusing to comment on the actual details of the incident.
Mr Tuseed alleges ABVP for pressurizing the authorities for cancellation of his candidature. He informed that a case has been filed in this regard and he will be going on a hunger strike until justice is delivered.
Meanwhile, the party has convinced an independent candidate, Alka of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (evening), to contest on their behalf.
DUSU Polls are scheduled for September 12.

Image credits: Sandeep Samal for DU Beat

Sandeep Samal

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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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DUB Speak

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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DUSU Elections 2017

National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) releases manifesto for DUSU elections

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The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) launched its manifesto for the DUSU elections and kickstarted its “Take Back DU” campaign in a press conference on 17th August. The four-page manifesto which was released on the occasion talks about democracy and freedom on campus, ensuring equal opportunities, and making Delhi University more affordable. The motto of NSUI’s campaign for 2017 is “Take Back DU”, implying that the Congress-affiliated students’ wing wants to restore the peace in the campus, opposing the recent violence that occurred in the University.

Speaking on the occasion, Fairoz Khan, the national President of the party said that the campus has now become a place of fear and violence for its students. NSUI aims to change this atmosphere within the campus. He also informed that NSUI aims to conduct an issue-based campaign without the use of money and muscle power in an attempt to bring a gradual shift in DUSU politics. “The manifesto has been made by interacting with all the students of the University. We also aim to encourage exchange programmes between the colleges,” he said.

Ruchi Gupta, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) NSUI in-charge talked about the three aspects of the manifesto. She identified them as follows. “The first being democracy on campus and different aspects of democracy. The second thing we are targeting in our manifesto is equal opportunities and affirmative action. The third thing is to talk about access – physical and financial – to Delhi University.”

The party aims to “Take Back DU” and make sure that there is democratic control over the campus. It also wants to tackle issues such as difference of fees in colleges, the atmosphere of fear on the campus, the ideological conflict amongst parties, and seat cuts in courses all over Delhi University.

 

Feature Image Credits: NSUI

Anagha Rakta
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Top Picks

5 Controversies of 2016 which every DU student should know

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So here we are, having survived 2016, with all the swag and luster, at Delhi University. This year shall be remembered in the academic vicinity for various reasons. As for the freshers and rest alike, whether you were basking in the carelessness of the post-war (pun intended) vacation or were getting yourselves squeezed in the queue for hours together in the ruthless Northern summer after overnight brainstorming to dismantle the enigma of the Delhi University cut offs, detrimental things were going on around you.
If you failed to pay heed to these developments, we come up with 5 controversies which made the year.

1. Something which took freshers by surprise was the boycott of the admission process by the faculty. Later, we learnt of the boycott of the evaluation process itself. This was all in response of the University Grants Commission (UGC) gazette notification, which intended to raise the working hours. Since we ended up being taught, the crisis must have been resolved.

2. The Delhi University election sent shock waves throughout September. The guidelines against the usage of paper pamphlets fell to the deaf ears of the young candidates as is the pollution in Diwali to Delhi-ites. Three out of four posts, including that of president, were bagged by ABVP, RSS’s student outfit, amidst cries of foul play by NSUI. The 4th October pictures of Amit Tanwar, the president, posing with guns in the varsity campus deepened the charges of hooliganism and criminalisation of DU politics, reducing our expectations from our leaders which had already been weakened by all the freebies.

3. The ceiling collapse on 30th August at Daulat Ram College was the frightful realisation of long time fears of all the 63 DU colleges. This incident brought into national focus the hollow claims about the infrastructure and raised many questions. Students came out on the streets asking for more washrooms, basic sanitation facilities and better heed to grievances from immediate effect.

4. 2016, to an extent, saw the Pinjra Tod movement, an initiative which grew out of a Facebook page in August, 2015 to champion the causes of women in hostels and PG, yield results. In response to the countless protest marches, curfews have been slackened, leading to the removal of guardian’s permission for leave, among many other feats. But as Sabika Naqvi rightly maintains, there is a long long way to go.

5. On 8th November, DU professor Nandini Sundar was booked on the alleged charges of murder of a tribal man Shamnath Baghel in Sukma district of Chattisgarh. She called the allegations ‘absurd’ and fittingly no new development seems on the plate.Interstingly, this is not her maiden face off with Bastar Inspector General Kalluri. Nandini Sundar had been the whistle-blower in the alleged atrocities at the hands of security forces. Earlier this year, her trip to Bastar under the alias of Richa Keshav had already flaked controversies.

Nikhil Kumar
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Image credits: www.123rf.com

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Campus Central

Voting concludes for DUSU elections, 44% turnout for morning colleges

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Amidst tight security provided by the Delhi Police, the season of campaigning finally came to an end as voting for the Delhi University Students’ Union concluded on Friday. The results of the elections will be declared on Saturday at noon.

The turnout was reported to be over 44% for morning colleges. The turnout for evening colleges will be confirmed later. Last year, the figure for morning colleges stood at 42.3%. Voting began at 8:30AM and went on till 12:30PM for morning colleges.

#Live: Voting has begun! Do go out and exercise your right and responsibility this year at the #DUSU #election 2015.By Shraman Ghosh for DU Beat

Posted by DU Beat on Thursday, 10 September 2015

Elections for college unions were also conducted on Friday. The results for the same were announced on the same day.

Major parties like ABVP, NSUI, CYSS and AISA halted campaigning on the 9th. AAP’s CYSS is the new entrant to DU’s politics this year. Last year, ABVP swept all 4 seats of the DUSU.

DUSU is one of the most influential students’ unions of the country; numerous past office-bearers, Arun Jaitley and Ajay Maken to name a few, have gone ahead to hold public offices in Central and State Governments.

Image credits: Jasmine Chahal

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Know your parties- DUSU Elections 2015

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Still haven’t decided your vote? Here’s a little insight into the parties contesting for Delhi Union Students’ Union election 2015.

ABVP – can they do another 2014?

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad is the only major right-wing representation in DU’s political pitch. ABVP is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and shares nationalist ideologies with the Bharatiya Janata Party. ABVP has presided over DUSU 22 times since the establishment of the students’ union. Riding on the anti-Congress mood of the nation, ABVP clean swept the DUSU polls last year with a decisive margin.

Past activities and stands

The party took an offensive stand against the Four Year Undergraduate Programme in 2013 and in 2014, after the election of a BJP government in the centre and a full-blown tussle between the University Grants Commission and the University of Delhi, FYUP was rolled back by DU. ABVP is known to be anti-homosexuality and an opponent of live-in relationships. In October last year, ABVP formed a human chain in the University to “sensitise students about the menace of live-in relationships”. ABVP’s karyakartas also locked horns with rival party All India Students’ Association in November over Kiss of Love, a movement against moral-policing supported by AISA.

ABVP has raised several issues pertaining to DU students in the past, including reintroduction of the schemes of revaluation and ‘special chance’. After Arvind Kejriwal’s successful bid for Delhi’s Chief Ministerial post, ABVP office bearers met with the CM to discuss issues related to the University.
DU Beat’s DUSU Opinion Shows ABVP to be winning by a small margin. Read more here.

Candidates for 2015 

ABVP has fielded the Joint Secretary of its Delhi chapter, Satender Awana, for the post of the President. He is presently pursuing M.A. Buddhist Studies. Sunny Dedha, a student of the Faculty of Law, is contesting for the post of Vice President. Anjali Rana, a student of history at Lakshmi Bai College, is the party’s pick for the post of the Secretary of DUSU whereas for the post of Joint Secretary, Chhatar Pal Yadav has filed his nomination. The ballot numbers for the ABVP panel are 1, 1, 4 and 4.

AISA – Gunning for #1

The All India Students’ Association emerged as a galvanising force in 1990 grounding itself on the ideology of the Naxalbari peasant movement and the 1974 peoples’ movement in Bihar. The organisation believes that Marxism can liberate the society and can lead to human emancipation. Its critical stand towards ‘fascism’ and political forces that divide masses on religious lines is what inspires belief in its members.

Past Activities and Stands


 The organisation’s support for the labour rights and the working class has been both evident and lauded by many left scholars.It has also been at the forefront of the movement against criminalisation of politics.
AISA has voiced its dissent whenever instances of privatisation in the realm of education have germinated in the country. It has been vocal against the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) and the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations. The liberal nature of this organisation and its structure, which is devoid of communal elements, has attracted the attention of many civil society members. In the 2014 DUSU elections, the organisation came as the third force after both the parties.

Candidates for 2015

For 2015, Sheetal Bhopal of Hindu College is contesting for the post of President. Sudhanshu Shekhar of Sri Aurobindo College has been pitched for the Vice-Presidential post. Ravi Kumar of Ramjas College and Abhinav Kumar of Deshbandhu College are contesting for the positions of Secretary and Joint Secretary respectively.

CYSS- The Newbie to change it all?

The Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), the AAP supported student body, is all set to make its debut in the Delhi University elections scheduled to be held on September 11. With AAP and Arvind Kejriwal’s ideas in mind, CYSS is committed to ending money and muscle power in campus elections. CYSS claims a strong level of intra-party coordination and a firm adherence to clean and honest politics. They believe that the crippling problems of the nation like corruption and hunger can be solved if parties stand by clean politics. Focusing on student issues, they want to rid the election scenario of vulgar splashing of money and the intimidating presence of outsiders.

Past activities and stands

CYSS has made three issues the focus of its campaign as seen in their manifesto. Providing WiFi facilities in all public places and high footfall areas of North and South Campus, monthly job fairs in the 11 revenue districts of Delhi and implementing an education loan scheme and providing opportunities to help DU students become job creators and not just job seekers. However, CYSS had recently found itself amidst allegations of publicising ‘fake’ opinion polls and advertising on hundreds of billboards across the city. Their claims of being a ‘clean’ party and standing for honest politics got into more trouble when the party organised a star studded concert at Talkatora Stadium. The Chief Minister also addressed the students of Delhi University, promising them higher education loan schemes, one lakh jobs within a year and free WiFi in colleges, when endorsement of candidates by political parties is not permitted according to university norms. Lyngdoh Committee recommendations speak of a budget of Rs 5000 for campaigning. It would seem the actions of the party have been contradictory to their claims of ‘clean’ politics.

Candidates for 2015

Standing from the CYSS panel are Kuldeep Bidhuri, a second year B.A Programme student from PGDAV (morning) college, for the post of President, Garima Rana, a state-level badminton player from Hindu College, for the post of Vice President, Rahul Raj Aryan, a university gold medalist from Hindu college, for the post of Secretary and Hintanshi Chauhan from Satyawati College for the post of Joint Secretary.

NSUI- A Force to Reckon with?

A proud Centrist party, NSUI came into being on 9 April 1971, and boasts of 4 million members and around 1,30,000 office bearers and units in 14,500 colleges across the country.
Their mission is to “empower the student community, to create responsible citizens and leaders based on the values of democracy, secularism, liberty, quality & equality”.

Past Activities and Stands

In their 20-point manifesto for 2015, NSUI has focused on four main issues- rollback of the CBCS system, demand for atleast two hostels each in the North and South Campuses, proper water facilities in all colleges, and improvement of administrative management across the university for procedures like submission of the examination forms. In addition to these, they have also stressed on the importance of issues like lack of WiFi access in colleges and the tedious schedule of evening colleges.
Their campaign strategy works on ‘conventional is cool’. According to them, the glamorous and star-studded campaigns being run by other parties aren’t good tactics.

Candidates for 2015

For the 2015 DUSU elections, NSUI has fielded Pradeep Vijayran, a final year LLB student from the Faculty of Law, as their Presidential Candidate, Prerna Singh from Ram Lal Anand College as their Vice-Presidential candidate, Amit Sehrawat from the Faculty of Law for the post of the Secretary and Deepak Chaudhary from Hansraj College for the post of the Joint Secretary.

SFI- Aiming to Reform DU

“Curb money and muscle power in the University of Delhi,” said Prashant, a State Committee Member of the Students’ Federation of India. In the 2015 DUSU Elections, SFI is aiming for that and to stop mishaps in the University.

Past Activities and Stands

Unlike many other student political parties, SFI has a different manifesto, which includes removal of the Choice Based Credit System, better accommodation in hostels and rent-control for PGs and Flats, sorting out the matter of the LLB Course of the University not being recognised by the Bar Council and granting of the “MCM Scholarships”, which were started in 2002 by SFI.

SFI has continued to have an alliance with All India Students Organisation- the AIDSO Alliance. This is to stop the fractioning of the left votes in the university and to amalgamate the left force to defeat the predominant right wing of the university.

The Candidates for 2015


The candidates being fielded by SFI are Chand Mahal Ruby, a 3rd year Political Science student from Ramjas College, for the post of the President, Qasim Masumi, pursuing masters from School of Social Work, for the post of the Vice-President, Ashraf Ali standing, a student at Moti Lal Nehru College and the AIDSO Alliance candidate, for the post of the Secretary and Ashish Chauhan, a student at Zakir Hussain Evening College, for the post of the Joint Secretary.

Image Credits- youthkiawaaz.com

Sidhant R. Seth
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Riya Chhibber
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Arindam Goswami
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Sidharth Yadav
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Ishaan Gambhir
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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:-

Fullscreen capture 982015 85614 PM.bmp
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.

Fullscreen capture 982015 92024 PM.bmp

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

Fullscreen capture 982015 92029 PM.bmp

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.

Fullscreen capture 982015 92233 PM.bmp

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. 

Fullscreen capture 982015 92037 PM.bmp

 

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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