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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.      ]]>

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.”

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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“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.

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])

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.

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

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