NEW DELHI: Five of the eight presidential candidates belong to lesser-known organisations and have no political or financial backing. However, they follow the guidelines in the true sense and wish to contest only ‘student-based politics’.
With a clear and larger vision for the University in their minds, these five candidates include Aniket Madke from Law Centre II, Badee U Zaman from Arabic Department, Pinki from the Buddhist Studies, Shivam Maurya from Hindu College and Sheetal from Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College.
Aniket Madke is a first year student of Law Centre. He hails from Madhya Pradesh, represents the Dalit community and contesting as a candidate of All India Students Federation (AISF). The AISF’s manifesto outlines a robust agenda for marginalised communities, including establishing a North-East Students’ Protection and Welfare Committee and measures to support LGBTQIA+ students. “Discrimination, hate crimes, and financial barriers against North-East students will not be tolerated. We will provide comprehensive legal, social, and financial assistance,” the manifesto states.
Badee U Zaman, a 24-year-old final-year student of MA Arabic, is originally from Kerala. He completed his graduation from Kerela and came to DU to pursue post-graduation last year. Badee U Zaman is contesting from the Fraternity Movement, a seven-year-old organisation on the campus.
Zaman, sharing his election manifesto, said, “We have been highlighting the issue of low voter turnout. Over the past two years, only 30% of students have participated in the elections, leaving a staggering 70% out of the electoral process. This low turnout highlights a serious problem: the current election system at Delhi University is driven by money and muscle power, leaving many students’ voices unheard and their issues unaddressed.”
“We envision a university where democracy flourishes and anti-caste politics are actively promoted. Fraternity DU is a strong ally for every student fighting against oppression” he added.
Among these five candidates is Shivam Maurya—the youngest, 17-year-old candidate. Maurya is a first-year BCom Hons student from Hindu College. He came to DU this year from Gorakhpur and joined the Disha Students Organisation (DSO).
As a presidential candidate, he shared his vision for the university: “I want the university to stop exploiting the students in the name of these merit-based CUET exams, etc., and new education policy. These kinds of programmes can further ruin the students’ careers.”
Meanwhile, Pinki, 24 years old and a student of Buddhist Studies, got associated with the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) last year, and this is the first time the ASA is contesting the election. Pinki said, “There are two major challenges before us as students- the first is the fee hike. We belong to a public University and the government knows how much we can afford to pay. The government should be concerned about education and not their income. Secondly, we want to fight against all sorts of discrimination against the marginalised groups on the campus.”
Meanwhile, Sheetal is a presidential candidate of All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO), one of the left organisations on the campus. Sheetal is a first-year Hindi Hons student of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College.
Sheetal sharing her vision for the University said, “Our purpose is to defeat the money-muscle power and strengthen the student movement on the campus. Our clear agenda is ‘Save Culture and Save Human Rollback FYUP, and regular scholarships to research scholars are some of the demands.”