NEW DELHI
Delhi University is in full election mode for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election on 22 September, after a four-year gap. The candidates have been announced for the same. The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has chosen Tushar Dedha for the post of President, Sushant Dhankhar for Vice President, Aprajita for Secretary, and Sachin Baisla for Joint Secretary. These candidates have been chosen from nine who filed nominations, and based on their overall presence on campus, their names were finalised.
Aprajita told The Sunday Guardian, “We are going to win all four seats. We have constantly worked hard to raise students’ issues at the university level”. Speaking about their roadmap for the election, she said they will work on the infrastructure development at the university as well as hostels. She emphasised the safety of female students, PCR in front of all women’s colleges and hostels, and training them for self-defense. Vice President candidate Sushant Dhankar said: “The university lacks sports infrastructure and the players do not get proper diets. We will work in this area, and maybe in the future, we can organise our own DU Olympics.”
The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) has also fielded candidates for the DUSU elections. They have filed Hitesh Gulia for the post of President, Abhi Dahiya for Vice President, Yakshana Sharma for Secretary, and Shubham Chaudhary for Joint Secretary.
Hitesh, the presidential post candidate, told The Sunday Guardian: “ABVP, despite being in power for the last two terms, failed to raise student issues. They have been repeating the same issues since the last two elections. We will work for the overall betterment of the students and act as a bridge between them and the administration. If NSUI comes to power, we will organise one of the biggest youth festivals in Delhi University.” Yakshana Sharma, the Secretary post candidate, told The Sunday Guardian, “We come from humble backgrounds, and my college fees are merely Rs 4,000 per year, while I pay almost Rs 10,000 per month as rent due to the scarcity of hostels. Also, there are irregularities in fee structures that vary from college to college. We will work in this direction so there remains uniformity in the fee structure.” She also raised serious questions regarding the safety of female students. There are other organisations like AISA and INSO and many independent candidates too, but the major fight is between NSUI and ABVP.
The administration has also made adequate arrangements. An officer associated with the DUSU election told The Sunday Guardian: “We have installed CCTV cameras at major points and identity card checking is going on in campus so that outsiders can be prevented from entering campus. The police are regularly patrolling around the campus. We also have flying squads that are doing surprise checks in the colleges so that the election ends violence-free. Till now, no report of violence during the campaigning has been reported.” The DUSU elections will conclude on 22 September. The elections will be EVM-based, while the college elections will be ballot paper-based and managed by the colleges themselves.