The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI)-All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) alliance on Wednesday announced their candidates for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections.
ABVP candidates
The ABVP said its candidate for the presidential post is Rajat Choudhary, a student of MA political science at Motilal Nehru College.For the post of vice-president, the ABVP has fielded Paarth Rana, who is a student of MA Buddhist studies and a graduate from Sri Venkateswara College.
The candidate for the post of secretary is Mahamedhaa Nagar from the faculty of law. Ms. Nagar completed her graduation from Miranda House and was the vice-president at Miranda House from 2014-15. For joint secretary, Uma Shankar, a first-year BA student at Motilal Nehru College and a State executive committee member of the ABVP, has been fielded.
NSUI candidates
The NSUI has fielded Rocky Tuseed, a student of MA Buddhist studies for the post of president, Kunal Sherawat from the faculty of law for vice-president, Minakshi Meena from the faculty of law for secretary and Avinash Yadav from the faculty of law for joint secretary. However, the Election Commission (EC) in DU did not accept Mr. Tuseed’s nomination on grounds of ‘disciplinary action’.
SFI-AIDSO candidates
The SFI has thrown its hat into the ring after forming an alliance with the AIDSO to fight against the “Right-wing offensive of the ABVP-BJP-RSS in DU”. They have put up for the post of president Rafat Alam, an SFI activist who is doing her MA from the Department of Social Work. Jitendra Kumar is the candidate for the post of DUSU vice-president. Mr. Kumar is doing his LLB from Campus Law Centre. Shri Ram College of Commerce’s Kolisetty Lakshmi from the SFI is in the fray for the post of secretary, while Roshan from Satyawati College and AIDSO will fight for the post of secretary .
The DUSU elections will be held on September 12.
‘Disciplinary action’
In a late development on Wednesday, the EC in DU rejected NSUI candidate Mr. Tuseed’s nomination for the post of president on grounds of ‘disciplinary action’. The NSUI urged the EC to accept his nomination stating that the grounds were not enough to reject the candidate.
The NSUI added that there was no concrete definition of the same as laid down by the EC.
“Without clear definition, there is bound to be arbitrary application of standards which is bad law. Will a fine of ₹300 for breaking a chair also constitute disciplinary action?” read a statement issued by the NSUI.
The NSUI argued that the EC had allowed the same candidate to contest the department elections last year. “The candidate was the president of the Department of Buddhist Studies in DU. The EC as an institution cannot apply differential standards year-on-year,” said the NSUI.
It added, “Any reasonable standards of disciplinary action will require either suspension and/or absence of good moral character. Our candidate was not suspended and also has a certificate of good moral character from the same institution.”
Citing the above grounds, the NSUI said not accepting the nomination was ‘arbitrary and unfair’ and appealed to the EC to accept Mr. Tuseed’s nomination.
