It is after a gap of 18 years that the varsity’s student body has elected an independent to the president’s post.
In a surprise finish to this year’s Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls, an independent candidate was elected as President of the union while the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) student wing recorded its maiden victory in the four-member body elections.
Manoj Chaudhary, an independent candidate won the top DUSU post defeating nearest rival Bajinder Singh of the CPI-affiliated All India Students’ Federation (AISF) by a slender margin of just 11 votes. Following the disqualification of their presidential candidate, BJP’s student wing- Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) had backed Chaudhary, a student at Department of Buddhist Studies.
It is after a gap of 18 years that the varsity’s student body has elected an independent to the president’s post. The only time the union has had an independent candidate elected as president in recent times was in 1991 when Rajiv Goswami was elected to the office as a result of the Mandal wave.
DUSU polls have always been dominated by Congress’s National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the ABVP. However, the dominant players were reduced to being fence-sitters this year since three of the four candidates from both outfits were disqualified for violating the election code of conduct. The varsity had decided to strictly adhere to the recommendations of the Supreme Court appointed JM Lyngdoh committee on student union elections.
With NSUI and ABVP being booted out from the electoral fray within 24 hours of the notification of candidates by the varsity, the polls had failed to arouse any curiosity in students, ending in a meager 37 per cent voter turnout on Friday.
While the lone candidates of ABVP (Kirti Wadhera for vice-president) and NSUI (Arshdeep Kaur for secretary) managed to win their respective seats, the actual surprise winner was SP-affiliated Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha’s Anupriya Tyagi who got elected as joint secretary.
The verdict came as a strong disappointment to the Left Front-affiliated student groups who had sensed a chance of victory owing to the absence of any formidable opposition. No candidate of Left-backed bodies like Students Federation of India (SFI), All India Student Association (AISA) or AISF could wrest a seat. Two candidates, one each from SFI and AISF finished second.
But for the candidates who have won, there’s still a cause to worry amongst the celebration. Barring Tyagi, the election of Chaudhary, Wadhera and Kaur has been declared provisional as all three had been served notice for violation of election code of conduct on Thursday.
A total of 29 candidates were in fray for the four DUSU posts and nearly 30,500 of the varsity’s 88,000 students voted.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}