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The stage is set for the high-stakes Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections, scheduled to take place on Friday, 22 September. Polls for the four-member union are being held after a three-year gap necessitated by COVID-induced restrictions across the country.
The major organisations that are in the fray this year are the traditional bigwigs like the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vishwa Parishad (ABVP) and Congress’ National Students' Union of India (NSUI), left-backed All India Students Association (AISA), and Students' Federation of India (SFI).
The Quint met with the four key candidates battling for the coveted DUSU president post and asked them about the promises they made to DU students.
Candidate 1: ABVP's Tushar Dedha
Contesting from ABVP is 25-year-old Tushar Dedha, who is currently pursuing a MA in Buddhist Studies at the DU. Hailing from northeast Delhi's Gonda village, Dedha has been a part of the ABVP since 2015 and has had a key interest in student politics, he told The Quint.
"Student politics interested me since school as I grew up watching my brother be involved in DU politics. I lost my father in 2020 and my mother is a homemaker," he said.
Along with his passion for raising students’ issues, Tushar also aims to build a career in research.
Manifesto promises: The ABVP released its 21-point manifesto on Monday, 18 September titled ‘WoManifesto’, which includes:
1. One course, one fees
2. Special buses for university student
3. Increment in SC/ST/OBC scholarships
4. Metro concession passes
5. Construction of new hostels
Candidate 2: AISA's Aiyesha Ahmad Khan
20-year-old Aiyesha Ahmad Khan is a second-year English Honors student From Miranda House. A native of Bihar, Aiyesha is the first woman in her family to study at DU.
"My father is a journalist and my mother a homemaker. I am the first woman from my family to study at Delhi University. I have always had an interest in politics and I was always taught to be aware of my surroundings and question things,” Aiyesha told The Quint.
As an avid reader since childhood, Aiyesha dreams of becoming an editor at a publishing house.
Manifesto promises: The AISA launched its manifesto on Tuesday, 19 September promising to take up issues like fee hike, rollback of the scheme for internal assessments, and free metro passes for students.
Key points by AISA are:
1. Roll-back the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) under National Education Policy (NEP)
2. No fee hike
3. Metro concessional students’ pass
4. Gender sensitisation committee against sexual harassment
5. Queer-affirmative counseling
“With the introduction of National Education Policy (NEP), DU has seen policies like Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) being imposed on students. The NEP 2020 resulted in massive fee hikes in various colleges and has failed to resolve the issue of lack of hostels for students. Making changes to the FYUP is our main promise," Aiyesha told The Quint.
Candidate 3: NSUI's Hitesh Gulia
Representing the Congress-backed NSUI is Hitesh Gulia. A final-year Law Centre-I student, Gulia graduated from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College.
Manifesto promises: The NSUI released two manifesto: A ten-point general one and a five-point manifesto focussed on women. This includes:
1. Violence-free campus
2. No fee hike
3. Legal assistance in cases of harassment, moral policing etc
4. Menstrual leaves for upto 12 days per semester
5. Round-the-clock library
Candidate 4: Arif Siddiqui from SFI
Representing SFI is 21-year-old Arif Siddiqui, from Uttar Pradesh's Umran village. Son of a farmer, Arif is pursuing Masters in Buddhist Studies at DU and dreams of serving in the Indian Army.
"After being witness to the 2019 DUSU elections, I realised that unions have stopped fighting for issues of students. So, I decided to fight and represent us students who comes from lower-economics backgrounds from tier-2 cities across India," Siddiqui told The Quint.
Key promises from SFI are:
1. Concessional metro pass for students
2. Public sharing of all funds received by DUSU and college unions to counter misuse of funds
3. Roll Back FYUP
4. Two hostels - One for boys and one for girls in every co-ed college
5. Provision of scholarship to all economically backward students and SC/ST students
The last four times, the tussle for the posts in DUSU have been between the ABVP and NSUI. The ABVP bagged the president’s seat in 2016, 2018, and 2019, while the NSUI won in 2017.
In a notification, DUSU Chief Election Officer (CEO) Chander Shekhar said that the polling hours are from 8.30 am to 1.00 pm for day classes and 3.00 pm to 7.30 pm for evening classes. The counting will begin at 8 am on Saturday, 23 September, the CEO said.
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