Former DUSU leaders jump
Hamari Jamatia Posted online: Nov 01, 2008 at 1558 hrs
New Delhi, October 31 : Years after they impressed the young minds of Delhi University with peppy slogans, former office-bearers of the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) are now eyeing the upcoming Assembly elections. If the number of interested candidates is any indication, the elections will see a number of young faces, experienced in the art of politics since their student days, fighting for the coveted posts.
According to NSUI sources, at least six former office-bearers of DUSU and two DU student activists are in the race for Congress tickets. Big names include Ragini Nayak, Anil Choudhary, Virendra Singh Vaishist, Harsh Chaudhury, Ashok Basoya and Alka Lamba. From the ABVP, Nakul Bhardwaj and Anil Jha are leading the camp for fresh faces in the BJP. Other names include Jaiveer Rana, Jitender Choudhury, Ajay Choudhury, Ashish Sood and Satish Upadhyay.
When asked if being “new” contestants will in a way jeopardise their chances to win, a former DUSU office-bearer, on condition of anonymity, said: “Being young does not mean we are new. Each student leader has been actively working for the last few years and so people in their area know them well and that is what counts.”
Commenting on whether winning the DUSU elections will help in preparing for the Assembly elections, a former ABVP leader said there is a huge difference between the two. “From the point of the ABVP, DUSU elections only help in learning about the organisational structure of a party and nothing else,” he said.
For both NSUI and ABVP, student leaders are expected to bring a youthful image to their area. Mukesh Shukla, an ABVP leader said: “When young people in the age of 30-35 contest against older contestants, they give a youthful image to campaigning. Also, being former leaders of DUSU, they get students to campaign for them.”
When not contesting, student activists are also expected to help in campaigning for other candidates of the Congress and the BJP.
Anand Pandey, the national spokesperson of NSUI, says, “Before elections, there is door-to-door campaigning to be done and on the day of the elections there are hundreds of booths to be looked after. Obviously, the students play a big role in mobilising supporters.”
