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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:-

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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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One year on, NSUI now joins the protest against FYUP

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nsui camp Congress’ student wing – N.S.U.I. musters support against F.Y.U.P. by means of signature campaign at North Campus, D.U.[/caption] Sunny Kumar, State Secretary for Delhi, AISA in response to the same question, said that “It is high time the focus shifts to students’ issues from muscle-and-money politics.  Therefore it’s not just the question of NSUI – every party has to raise students’ issues to survive. NSUI has now realized that the rage against F.Y.U.P. is not something they can tame and hence they oppose it now.” Calling ABVP, a passive opposition, Kumar said that any action against FYUP by the central government cannot imply that the party has done any ‘concrete work in the same direction’. In their defense, Amrish Ranjan Pandey, NSUI national spokesperson, told IANS that, “It was something new  last year, so we neither supported nor protested against the structure, but now after a year, we conducted a survey and have found that it is not good academically and students are not happy with it”. Nonetheless, the coming together of all the parties is a clear sign that the students and teachers of DU unanimously agree that FYUP is not something they want and should indeed be rolled back.      ]]>

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NSUI celebrates Lokpal, demands passage of pending anti-corruption bills

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National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) organised an event at Jantar Mantar on Monday, 30th December 2013 to celebrate the passing of the Lokpal Bill. There were a slew of artistes lined up for today’s event that included DJ Sumit Sethi and Traffic Jam, a band from the North-east. It was attended by students and supporters of NSUI across the country from various universities. Students were told as to how the Lokpal Bill will usher in a new era by eradicating corruption and reinstating the administration and the governance. Students also participated in a mass signature campaign and pledged to carry on the initiative until all the pending anti-corruption bills are passed.

Rohit Chaudhary, President, NSUI said, “Today is just the beginning, thousands of students are gathered here to raise their voice that corruption is not tolerable at any cost. We demand immediate passage of The Whistle Blowers Protection Bill, The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill,  The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, The Public Procurement Bill, The Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organizations Bill. We will launch the ‘Student Stand Against Corruption’ movement in all the states and carry on this fight until the pending Bills are passed. On 15th January 2014, we shall gather here again and observe a hunger strike.”

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Political parties set out to woo voters from Delhi University

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With the state elections just around the corner, Delhi University happens to be a stage for political campaigning by different parties. In the university elections itself, many bigwigs come out in support of the students’ wing of their respective parties.

Besides, two of the most prominent politicians of Delhi happen to be DU alumni. The present Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, did her graduation in History Honours from Miranda House and Vijay Goel of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is an alumnus of SRCC, who was also the Delhi University Student Union President in 1977-78. Congress has fielded Ragini Nayak and Amrita Dhawan for the upcoming elections, who have been former DUSU office bearers. Parties have been fielding young leaders to attract young voters.

Let’s have a look at the campaigning activities of major political parties in the University:

Aam Aadmi Party

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the most visible among all the political parties in its campaigning in Delhi University. Arvind Kejriwal visited St. Stephen’s College in August to interact with students. Many students from different colleges have joined AAP and are volunteering for the Delhi Assembly Elections. Yogendra Yadav addressed a rally on 30th October in the University. Recently, MTV VJ Raghu Ram could be seen campaigning for AAP in different colleges of DU and in IIT Delhi. Prashant Bhushan has also addressed students on various occasions.

Adding to this, in the party manifesto released on Wednesday, the party declared that if brought into power, they would open more colleges in the state and roll back the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP).

Bhartiya Janata Party

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BJP has its share of young leaders who have been DUSU office-bearers. Nakul Bharadwaj, popular face of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of BJP, contested elections last year as well. ABVP has organised a bike rally to spread awareness about voting among the youth. ABVP has also initiated a campaign ‘Youth For Change’, to spread voting awareness. The emphasis on the youth is apparent in the campaigning by the party where it promises to open 15 new colleges and one university under the Atal Yuva Mission, if voted into power. They are also promising to exempt all taxes on computers, laptops, tablets and smart phones for college students.

Congress

National Students Union of India (NSUI) the students wing of Congress had organised a protest march against Vijay Goel. At least four ex office-bearers of NSUI are fighting elections from Congress ticket in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. With the release of the party manifestos, the Congress promises to increase the number of evening colleges across the University, a new university for health sciences and 5 more medical colleges. Besides, the state government had also proposed 90% quota for Delhi students in the state funded colleges of DU in October.

The Election Commission is leaving no stones unturned in roping in the young voters. It has started campaign with many NGOs to rope in the young voters and enrol students of various colleges to vote in the upcoming elections.

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DUSU and NSUI conduct Vidyarthi Panchayat for Delhi University students

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“The youth is the power of India. When the whole world will have its population concentrated in the old age, India will rise with its youth.” These were a few of the inspiring words said by Mr.Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Union minister of State of Human Resource Development at the Vidyarthi Panchayat organised for Delhi University students on the 29th July at the North Campus Conference Centre.

The Vidyarthi Panchayat is an initiative by DUSU and NSUI. It is a platform to raise our voices & get grievances redressed. The main aim is to give students a proper channel to address the various issues in the college campuses.

The initiative was started under the programme “Lead Your Campus” which aims to empower students to fight for their rights. They have not just introduced the concept of such panchayats to Delhi University, but to other universities as well. They believe that Vidyarthi Panchayat is a platform to bring students and college administration together.

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The issues and concern raised in the Vidyarthi Panchayat would be published on the university website and they would be acted upon by the required authorities. The hearing was honoured by Dr.Shashi Tharoor, along with Prof. Dinesh Singh, Vice Chancellor of Delhi University.

Many questions were raised at the Panchayat regarding the lack of proper communication between the administration and students regarding several provisions of examinations because of which the students have to often re-appear. The Vice Chancellor assured that everything is being put on the websites so that students don’t have to just rely on information counters for the same. Questions were also asked regarding the ruckus created during the election campaign. Other concerns such as students not being granted admission despite clearing the cut off lists of colleges were cleared by assuring that an Enquiry Committee had been formed for the same.

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Image Credit: NSUI Twitter Handle

A parent also managed to get in and took out all his frustration on the authorities present for not letting his child get a chance to apply for the desired course she wanted. However, at the same time, many voices were left unheard and the NSUI members seemed to be passing on the mike selectively to certain people, as if it was pre-planned.

The initial small turn out delayed the event and overall it failed to gather the level of audience it should have attracted. Though Dr. Tharoor honoured the students by his presence simply for half an hour, he made sure all the grievances presented before him were properly taken care of. As a whole, it was a good initiative taken by DUSU and NSUI but an equal opportunity should have been given to all in order voice their concerns.

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Dr. Shashi Tharoor to address DU students at NSUI’s Vidyarthi Panchayat

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With a view to answer all the queries of the students of Delhi University and redress any of their grievances, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) is organising a Vidyarthi Panchayat on 29th July, 2013.

This event will be held in the Conference Centre opposite Arts Faculty at 10: 00 a.m for the entire student body of Delhi University. Not only will Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh be present in the ‘Panchayat’, but Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Human Resource Development Minister will be present as well.

The announcement about the same came through a tweet from Angellica Aribam, National Secretary, NSUI.

Ashok Bhagat, Cultural Secretary, DUSU says, “Students can ask about anything that concerns them, unless and until it does not offend anyone.” When asked whether the concept was anything similar to VC’s Darbar, he said, “This is a little different. At that time several questions went unanswered, this time we will make sure every concern and query is answered at the Vidyarthi Panchayat.”

Students can talk about ragging issues, FYUP, hectic timetables or anything else that has been bothering them.

If in case you are around in campus, it might be an interesting idea to visit the “Vidyarthi Panchayat”. With both Dr. Shashi Tharoor and VC Dinesh Singh present to listen to students’ concerns, it might be a good opportunity to be heard. All Delhi University students can attend the Vidyarthi Panchayat, provided they are carrying their college ID cards.

By Gayatri Khanna ([email protected]) with inputs from Gurman Bhatia ([email protected])

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ABVP’s Reaction to Defeat in Elections

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Ritu Rana from ABVP who stood for the post of President giving an interview accusing NSUI of foul play soon after the results were out

“ABVP calls Delhi University to be closed on Monday, 17th September because of unfair means in calculation of votes in DUSU elections”. This is the message that was widely circulated on Sunday nights, causing wide absenteeism in colleges on Monday.

In what is being regarded as a highly imprudent move, the ABVP is busy garnering attention and public support because they feel that the DUSU elections vote counting process was rigged.

‘I think they are being too egoistic, they should just accept that they have lost and move on”, says Professor Prachi, of the English Department, Hansraj College.

As commonly known by now, ABVP lost the elections as NSUI sweeped the polls to victory. Subsequently, the former accused DU of using unfair means to calculate votes but strangely did not file an application requesting a re-counting of votes. “It’s stupid, if they so strongly believe that the elections were rigged, they should have filed an application immediately, rather than engaging in hooliganism”, says Vaishali, a student of Hansraj college.

This move by the ABVP was also not very successful as classes went on as usual in most colleges, where no reports of ABVP stalling classes was reported. However, the ABVP activists were able to make their presence felt in colleges like KMC and Ramjas, where the activists stormed into classrooms and demanded that the students leave the classrooms, thereby disrupting normal college routine.

“They just entered into our classes even when our professors protested. They did not let the class continue.”, says Nupur, a student of Ramjas college.

While no new move has been introduced on part of ABVP, speculations are that they will not raise this issue further, because of lack of evidence and also since they don’t want to spoil their party image.

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Celebrations Result in Lathi Charge

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Congress’ student wing NSUI (National Students’ Union of India) made a clean sweep at the DUSU polls on Saturday 15th September by winning all three top posts of President, Vice-President and Secretary. After the results were announced, the losing side (ABVP activists) started pelting stones at the ABVP office, broke through the tight security and barricades. Subsequently, Delhi Police had to lathi charge the gathered ABVP activists while they shouted anti-Congress slogans and demanded the recounting of votes. ABVP suspects something fishy behind the counting of votes.

ABVP isn’t satisfied behind the counting process as they alleged rigging in the elections and staged protest at the DUSU Office breaking the windows and destroying the DUSU Office property. “Everything was done with calculated planning and even the DUSU officials made sure that NSUI wins. Congress MPs Depender and Bhupender Singh Hooda were seen at 6 am on campus. We were even given a deaf ear and thrown out of the DUSU Office when we demanded recounting” said Rohit Chahal, regional leader, ABVP.

Some students who were injured were taken to Hindu Rao hospital while some students who were critically injured were taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre. “It’s not about winning or losing the polls. It’s about the way Delhi Police reacted when our students demanded recounting of votes. I hope DUSU officials look into the matter and do the needful.” said a disappointed Vijay Goyal, BJP Leader.

The ABVP has also called for a bandh across the University to protest against these alleged malpractices during  counting of votes.

 

Picture credits: Sawdha Singh and Aishwarya Chaurasia

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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
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Picture credits: Swadha Singh

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