As Delhi University votes for its students' union, here's why is it important ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls

image for representation

As many as 1.35 lakh students will decide the fate of 23 candidates as they cast their votes today for the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections.

The voting process began at 8:30 am and will end at 7:30 pm. Around 700 electronic voting machines have been installed in 52 centres. The result of the elections is expected to be announced tomorrow.

Let us take a look at the poll dynamics and promises made by the youth wings of the biggest national parties of the country.

Who are the major players and what are the poll dynamics?

The major student wings contesting this year are RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Students Federation of India (SFI) of Communist Party of India (Marxist), and National Students Union of India (NSUI), which is the official student wing of the Indian National Congress.

In addition, the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) will be contesting the DUSU polls with left-wing students’ outfit All India Students Association (AISA).

In the last election, the NSUI had wrested the advantage from rival ABVP after winning the posts of president and vice-president. Meanwhile, the ABVP had won the posts of secretary and joint secretary in the hotly-contested polls. The voter turnout was 42.8 percent.

What are the poll promises?

The NSUI has promised the ‘Institute of Eminence’ tag for Delhi University and thalis for Rs 10. The Congress-backed student wing has claimed it will work towards implementation of UGC guidelines on the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).

On the other hand, the ABVP has promised to spend 50 percent of the student union’s budget of over Rs 20 lakh on women and social justice-related activities. The party also promised special assistance to sports personnel and ECA (extra-curricular activities) students.

ABVP is engaged in the
task of National Reconstruction.
Come, Vote & Support ABVP at
DUSU Elections today. #ABVP3572 pic.twitter.com/ZwmvJlhV72

— ABVP Himachal Pradesh (@abvphp) September 12, 2018

The AAP-backed CYSS promised installation of CCTV cameras, setting up of police booths on campus and ending the “culture of hooliganism” and opposing commercialism of education.

Who are the candidates?

A New Vision for the YOUTH,
A New Hope for the YOUNG,
A New Future for the GEN NEXT!

Vote & Elect #NSUI5313 in #DUSUElection2018 pic.twitter.com/k2bwm4Lcl0

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) September 12, 2018

VOTE SUPPORT ELECT
Please support #ABVP panel for DUSU2018 #ABVP4DUSU18
President - Ankiv Baisoya https://t.co/ONEmFYDno6.3
V.President -Shakti Singh https://t.co/ONEmFYDno6.5
Secretary - Sudhir Dedha https://t.co/ONEmFYDno6.7
Jt.Secretary -Jyoti Choudhary BallotNo.2 pic.twitter.com/541Lr0V0o8

— ABVP (@ABVPVoice) September 5, 2018

What impact does the DUSU elections have on national politics?

Broadly speaking, the DUSU elections indicate the electorate’s preference of political parties that can be projected on a national scale. Political parties too seem to have taken cognizance of this and hence invest time and money in these elections. The elections also indicate the general sentiment of the students on burning issues facing the nation, which this year, seem to be mob lynchings, the reading down of Section 377 and the phenomenon of ‘urban Naxals’ which has shot to relevance after ‘Dalit’ activists were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Bhima-Koregaon violence.

Have the results of DUSU elections reflected on general elections?

If the results of general elections are analysed in the years that they were preceded by DUSU polls, it can be seen the latter has had an impact on national politics.

For instance, in 1999, when the NDA won a wafer-thin majority in the Lok Sabha elections, the ABVP had made a comeback in DU.

Similarly, in the 2003 DUSU polls, the NSUI had trumped the ABVP by a clear majority. This political scenario was mirrored in the 2004 general elections when the UPA came to power by defeating the NDA. The trend continued until 2008, and in 2009, the UPA retained their hold at the Centre.

The trend saw a change in 2010, when the ABVP defeated the NSUI. In fact, the ABVP clean-swept the DUSU polls in 2015 and so did the BJP in general elections.   

Do DUSU leaders end up joining national politics?

While the common notion is that most students who show keen interest in University politics and/or manage to make a mark in DUSU polls, end up abandoning politics altogether after leaving college, there are a few who make it big in national politics.

For instance, Arun Jaitley was a leader of ABVP and became DUSU’s President in 1974. Now, he holds the finance ministry in Narendra Modi’s cabinet. Similarly, Ajay Maken, who is an alumnus of DU’s Hansraj College, was elected as the President of DUSU in 1985 when he was 21 years old. The five time MP/MLA is now the President of Congress’ Delhi unit.

Others who entered the fray of national politics, after making a start with DUSU, include Shashi Tharoor, Vijay Goyal, Nupur Sharma, Mani Shankar Aiyer and Vijay Goel.