NEW DELHI: The Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election is still a month away but the campus and many areas of the city are bustling with the election buzz.
Walls and metro pillars lined with names of the student outfits, posters of the candidates and their organizations pasted along the pavements, student bodies setting up help desks with decorated banners, and distributing pamphlets describing their work and their future plans, are among the activities anticipating the approaching student elections.
With the elections being held after a gap of three years due to the pandemic, the enthusiasm is palpable. As per the University notice, the V-C has already appointed office bearers and members for the central council of DUSU that will oversee the election procedure.
Principals of colleges have also been appointed as office bearers. The elections will likely take place in the third week of September.
Meanwhile, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) representatives at DU have started a membership drive. They are circulating pamphlets, often with a QR code, such that interested students can scan the code and access the manifesto and membership programme.
“Friends as you enter this University; you know that you are the second batch that has taken admitted in the Fourth Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP). You should know that as you step into the campus, there is a huge movement taking shape in the campus, aspiring to save the spirit and content of the education that DU is known for,” reads the AISA’s pamphlet.
Manik Gupta from All India Students’ Association (AISA) said, “Unlike other organizations who are busy painting the names of their candidates and their organization on the walls and pillar, we are building a movement to let students know the repercussions of the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) and how we have to fight against it together.”
Kunal Sehrawat, campus in charge of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) said, “We are not using any printing materials in campuses this time instead we are using handmade welcome cards for freshers and online and offline membership drive to interact with students.”
Speaking to this newspaper, Ashutosh Singh, convener of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) said,“Our efforts and struggles for the students’ cause will go on. We urge the freshers to join the nationalist organization and contribute towards the development of the nation. The session has just started and we are trying to meet the freshers as much as possible. We will begin our membership drive in the last week of August and will announce the candidate ten days before the date of the election.”
DUSU president Akshit Dahiya said, “We are organizing orientation programmes for colleges and from August 21, we will begin with the DUSU in-campus campaign where our representatives will visit the colleges and prepare a report of issues, the students are facing.”
Do not deface walls, warns police
Reacting to the defacement of the walls, DCP (North) on Thursday posted on X stating, “Attention DU Students! Let’s respect our campus walls. Defacing walls for elections might seem artsy, but it also attracts not-so-artsy legal action! Let’s keep our campus clean. Your future will thank you!#RespectTheWalls #VoteResponsibly”
