The Hindu : New Delhi News : DU family a big gainer in Assembly elections

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Tuesday, Nov 11, 2008
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New Delhi

DU family a big gainer in Assembly elections

Parul Sharma

Many student leaders, ex-faculty members in the race

NEW DELHI: No matter what result the Delhi Assembly elections throws up, Delhi University has everything to gain from the outcome as student leaders and a large number of its former faculty members are contesting the upcoming polls.

Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have fielded candidates who have been lecturers at Delhi University colleges. In fact, the BJP candidate for the top job of Chief Minister, V.K. Malhotra, was a teacher at P.G.D.A.V College before making it big in politics. Another senior BJP leader Jagdish Mukhi, who is Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly and held the Finance portfolio during his party’s reign in the State, was a reader at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College. With an impeccable record of winning elections for past 29 years, Prof. Mukhi said he was satisfied as he had achieved a lot in both fields. “The excesses of Emergency pushed me into politics. All the male members of our family were behind the bars. But I never really left my role as a teacher. I retired from my college at 62 and I have also taken classes at the University and some other institutes. I was regarded as one of the best teachers,” he added.

Asked if being an educationist made him “more acceptable” to voters, Prof. Mukhi said: “More than anything else it is your commitment to public, development in your area, your honesty and integrity that matters.”

Congress candidate from Malviya Nagar Kiran Walia, who was the Hauz Khas MLA before delimitation, taught Political Science at Laxmi Bai College.

Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri, who is hoping to get a ticket this time round as well, has been a Reader at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, where he taught Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology.

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