The turnout at the Delhi University Student Union Elections of 2016 was less than 30% which has opened a treasurechest full of questions. Jan Ki Baat attempts to understand what drives the students away. A concerned student pointed towards the main problems: drinking water, clean classrooms, hygienic environment, Wi-Fi services, a good staff, management and infrastructure, all of which are lacking. Another student had her own set of problems that remain unaddressed: the hostels in South Campus are very few in number, the quality of food being provided in their canteen is barely edible and the campaigning of these parties is a giant nuisance. Bribery, too, revealed itself as a common practice during the Election season. The candidates manifesto was just a pile of words, never explained fully and they often interrupt lectures mid-session, says one student. How the young goons pressurize voters into voting for a certain candidate, too, was a popular exercise.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student outfit affiliated to the RSS, stopped short of sweeping the students union elections in Delhi University, winning three out of four posts. The Congress-backed NSUI won one post. ABVP has won the posts of president, vice-president and secretary of the students union, popularly known as DUSU. The NSUI won the post of Joint Secretary.
The student parties belief that the trust that theyd lost has been restored, then, is based on what? The winning party has won but is it a real victory since less than 30% of students came to vote? And many of those who did vote, were either pressurized into voting for a certain candidate or werent even aware of the credentials they were voting for. What is, in essence, the future of student leaders in DU?
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