NEW DELHI: With just five days remaining for the highly anticipated Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections scheduled to take place on September 18, a major controversy has emerged around the newly formed student wing of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), ASAP (Aam Aadmi Students’ Association of Progressives).
This development raises questions over the party’s sudden and strategic moves ahead of the elections.
The controversy sparked after an official announcement from the Delhi unit of AAP stating that ASAP would not field any candidate in this year’s DUSU elections.
The announcement clarified that while the organisation will support a few “good candidates” in certain colleges, it would not contest directly. The reason cited was adherence to a prior decision to focus on student issues rather than electoral politics.
However, despite this clear decision, the announcement also revealed that a few individuals linked to ASAP had attempted to project an NSUI candidate as their official representative, spreading misleading information via press releases to certain media houses.
This forced the Delhi unit of AAP to issue a public clarification, denying any connection with such attempts.
The party also announced that a full internal inquiry is underway into the matter. Until the investigation concludes, Kamal Tiwari has been suspended from all ASAP and AAP positions and memberships.
Interestingly, ASAP has been actively campaigning on student-related issues in Delhi since its formation, promising to fulfil AAP’s earlier election promise of providing free metro cards to students.
Their political agenda has focused strongly on addressing issues of student welfare, including infrastructure, safety, and affordability. This controversy now puts the party in the spotlight at a critical time, as various student groups are ramping up their campaigns.
One of the senior leaders of CYSS (Dissolved by AAP), Sadiq Raza, said, “This is very unfortunate, but ASAP was clueless in finding a suitable candidate for the presidential post since they were never present on the campus."
Notably, ASAP recently participated in the Punjab University elections joining hands with other organizations and secured fourth position.