The All India Students’ Association (AISA) Monday became the first to begin campaigning for the upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election in 30 colleges across the campus. The party has, once again, fielded a woman candidate for the post of president.
Parul Chauhan, a third-year student of Satyawati College, is fighting for the post of president, while Jaishree, a student of Kirori Mal College, is fighting for the post of secretary. Both rose to prominence in their colleges following the Ramjas College incident in February this year.
Picking up pamphlets thrown by other students’ organisations, AISA candidates kickstarted their campaign with the theme ‘Clean DUSU, Green DUSU’ in 30 colleges.
“We hope that the university administration takes strong action against those who are seen throwing pamphlets and littering the campus with propaganda material,” said Chauhan.
The AISA has fielded Aditya Baibhav, a first-year student of Buddhist Studies, for the post of vice-president. He completed his graduation from Aurobindo College. For the post of joint secretary, Akash Gupta, a first-year student of the Law Faculty, has been fielded.
The other two students’ organisations, the NSUI and the ABVP, are yet to finalise their central panel. This time, of the 10 who have filed nominations from NSUI, five are women.
NSUI has also raised other issues and demanded that the university appoint polling agents and conduct mock drills before the election. “We want transparency in the election. All we are saying is that give us the votes polled for each of the colleges, videograph the counting process. In case of any anomalies, the university does not even have an appealing authority,” said Fairoz Khan, NSUI president.
Seven ABVP candidates have filed the nomination, of whom two are women. One of them, Mahamedha Nagar, was at the forefront during the Ramjas incident, where clashes broke out between students’ groups over a literary event where JNU student Umar Khalid was invited. A total of 125 candidates have filed their nominations. These are provisional lists, and after scrutiny and withdrawal, the final list will be published on September 6, sources said.
