The Delhi Congress on Wednesday said that its students’ wing, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), winning two posts in the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections showed that the youth was becoming disillusioned with the BJP.
With Wednesday’s results, the NSUI staged a comeback in DUSU polls after four years. The RSS-backed students’ organisation Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) had been in majority in the DUSU since 2013.
Congratulating the winning candidates, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said the NSUI would move court if need be to seek a re-count for the post of joint secretary, which the ABVP won with a margin of 342 votes.
‘Cameras turned off’
“During the counting of votes, we were informed unofficially that the NSUI had won three posts. Then the ABVP protested and asked for a re-count for joint secretary. Cameras were turned off during that re-count, so we demand a fair re-count that is recorded on video. Otherwise, we will move court,” said Mr. Maken.
He added that the results showed that the “attempts” by the BJP and the Central government to influence the election had failed.
“It is the first time that the DUSU elections were held on a weekday [Tuesday]. The election was scheduled so students could be made to watch Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Monday,” said Mr. Maken, referring to the speech Mr. Modi gave on the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s address to the World’s Parliament on Religions. The University Grants Commission had asked all universities to show the speech to students and teachers on Monday.
Rahul’s speech
On the other hand, said Mr. Maken, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s speech to students at the University of California, Berkeley on Tuesday was “accepted” by DU students.
Mr. Maken said that the nomination of the NSUI’s presidential candidate, Rocky Tuseed, had been “deliberately rejected”, but with the intervention of the High Court he was allowed to contest the election he eventually won.
“The increasing percentage of votes to NSUI shows that the Congress’ support is increasing,” he said.
Sweets distributed
Meanwhile, the Delhi Congress office on Wednesday saw sweets being distributed and workers giving leaders bouquets of flowers to congratulate them. After its defeat in the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections, the party has not had a major electoral victory to celebrate.
