For the second consecutive year, the much-hyped and celebrated Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) election will not be held. In a hat trick, current office bearers who were on extended tenure due to the pandemic will repeat for the third term in 2021-22.
“How will the varsity conduct students’ elections without students? First, colleges have to reopen. Only then, we can think about the polls,” says DU Registrar Vikas Gupta, adding, “We are awaiting the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) guidelines.”
Interestingly, this is not the first time that varsity elections stand cancelled. In 1991, DUSU elections were called off due to the Mandal Commission protests of 1990, and office bearers were repeated. And 30 years from then, for the first time last year, when the university cancelled elections, students and faculty favoured the decision as it was the pandemic’s peak. This year as life returns to normal, they want the polls to happen with all Covid protocols in tow.
So when the university has again pointed to the probability of a third wave as the main reason behind cancelling DUSU elections, the faculty and students feel that this is a conspiracy to keep the student union at bay from raising student-centric issues such as privatisation, contractualisation, and expected massive fee hike. The university, they allege, will use this period to implement the provisions of National Education Policy (NEP), Blended Mode of Learning, Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), entrance exams and other anti-student policies without their concern and participation.
This DU decision can instigate massive protests from student parties like the Congress-backed National Student Union of India (NSUI), left aligned All India Student Association (AISA), Student Federation of India (SFI) and CYSS.
Rajesh Jha, former member of Executive Council (EC) and Member of Academics for Action & Development (AAD) said, “When the government can have assembly by-elections, municipal elections, so why no student polls? This is more than campus politics. Students are major stakeholders. They have the right to elections and raise their voice against various issues and challenges being faced by the student fraternity. These changes in higher education will have a major impact on students as a massive fee hike is expected. The elections should be held. How to conduct it rightly by following protocols can be discussed with statutory bodies such as AC and EC.”
Professor at Rajdhani College and member of Indian National Teachers’ Congress (INTEC), Pankaj Kumar Garg, also said that the DU as well the ruling central government was “conspiring” to divert the focus from serious student issues. “Firstly, this academic year 2021-22 is very important considering the implementation of NEP. The university has already passed FYUP, and centralised entrance exams for Undergraduate (UG) courses are also being planned under NEP. There are so many anti-student and anti-teachers provisions such as Higher Education Funding Association (HEFA) under which colleges have to generate funds on their own. If this gets implemented, college grants will be reduced and ultimately lead to a fee hike,” said Garg, a former member of Academic Council, who adds, “Without an organised union and representative, students won’t be able to come together to raise issues.”
He also added that if the varsity could hold the DU Teachers Association (DUTA) election, it could allow students to choose their representative via holding an election. “About 10,000 teachers will turn up on November 26 to cast their votes at the Art Faculty. So, where is the third wave?” wondered Garg.
DU teachers said that the elections were usually held after admissions, and unlike last year, the academic session of all three years would properly begin from November 16. “The elections can be held in mid-December and by July end the session will end. Also, student turnout for the polling is just 50 per cent. Only the counting is centralised and the polling in DUSU is decentralised. Thus, the colleges can conduct elections with all protocols,” said a DU official. As per the Lyngdoh Committee set up in 2006, student elections should be conducted within six to eight weeks after admissions.
Why the hype?
The annual DUSU election began in 1971, and since then has been celebrated as a democratic festival among students, with strong backing from senior political leaders to MP and MLAs in the form of campaigning, sloganeering, pamphlets, displays, posters and banners; all elements bearing the panache of assembly elections.
Over the years, the DU student polls have evolved as a stepping stone to parliamentarians. It is a breeding ground for a fresh crop of leaders for many political parties. Notable examples are the Late Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, Former Delhi CM Sheila Dixit, senior Congress leader Ajay Makan, Alka Lamba, Amrita Dhawan, Nupur Sharma and others. All of them started their political lives from the college campus and emerged as national leaders.
Last DUSU polls took place in 2019 and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won the President, Vice President, and Joint Secretary seats, while NSUI bagged the Secretary post. Unlike other central universities such as JNU and HCU, DUSU elections are different and much-hyped due to the large student participation. ABVP and NSUI have ruled DUSU ever since these elections began. Over 40 DU colleges are affiliated to DUSU elections. These have their own college-level polls. Last year, few such colleges like Lady Irwin College held their online polls.
Students demand elections
Akshit Dhaiya won the election and became president in 2019 as a final year student. He may hold the post for another term, while pursuing LLB from the Law faculty. Pointing to India’s recent one billion dose landmark, he said, “We have written to the varsity to fully re-open the campus. After the admissions, we will request the varsity to conduct DUSU polls, following all Covid protocols.”
For him, Delhi University elections are “a festival of democracy”. “Thousands of students contest for these elections, and lakhs of other students participate in it. Due to Covid last year, this festival could not happen. But this year, we want the elections to return not only at the DUSU level, but also at college, department and society level so that students get a chance to groom their leadership skills and put forth their demands,” he noted.
Despite being the reigning student leader, Dhaiya wants to hang up his socks. “We worked for the students in the last two years. In peak Covid, the DUSU office stayed open, and I was there every day to help students facing issues in the pandemic. Now, other students should get this opportunity,” he said.
Kunal Sehrawat, Delhi State President, National Student Union of India (NSUI), is waiting hopefully for the polls. “But the ABVP and the BJP do not want DUSU elections because many students faced a lot of problems in the pandemic, and their anger will show in these elections. The NSUI supports DUSU elections, but at the same time, we demand that all students should get vaccinated at the earliest,” Sehrawat urged.
Lokesh Chugh, NSUI National General Secretary added, “The varsity has yet not given anything in writing that elections will not be held. Currently, we are working to assist students in the DU admission process. But, after admissions, NSUI will stage a massive protest demanding DUSU polls.”
AISA is nursing the same idea, according to its working general secretary, Prasenjeet Kumar. “The election process at the university is based on admissions. Once that is over, AISA will demand DUSU elections because it was always a big platform for students. In the last year, many students could not attend classes due to lack of Internet and accessibility. We are already protesting for reopening the campus so normal life can resume in the varsity,” said Kumar.
On the condition of anonymity, one student who secured admission during the lockdown, said, “I feel my batch will pass out without even seeing the college. Due to Covid, we lost the opportunity of knowing college life, elections, festivals, and activities. Now that most of us are vaccinated, the varsity should reopen the college, conduct elections and let the ‘lockdown batch’ live the college life a bit.”
When student polls were cancelled last year due to Covid, all stakeholders were in favour of the decision. But a similar decision this year has prompted a section of faculty & students to allege this is a conspiracy, reports Gayathri Mani
