The BJP’s student organisation, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), has won three of the four panel posts in the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election. In the vice-president’s post, however, Deepanshu Shokeen, a rebel who did not receive the ticket of the Congress student organisation, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), won as an independent candidate. NSUI therefore failed to win a single one of the four posts.
The Indian newspaper The Statesman reported that Deepanshu Shokeen won the vice-president’s post with 30,634 votes. ABVP’s Ishu Maurya received 16,910 votes. Veer Chatrath, who received the NSUI ticket in Shokeen’s place, came third with 4,313 votes.
Another NSUI rebel also finished ahead of the organisation’s own candidate in the joint secretary’s post. Contesting as an independent, Bishesh Yadav came second with 15,778 votes. NSUI’s Gopal Chaudhary received 15,206 votes. ABVP’s Lakshya Raj Singh won the post with 16,615 votes.
Allegations of favouritism had been raised against NSUI earlier over the award of tickets to candidates. The election results brought that controversy further to the fore. The very large gap between the votes of Shokeen, who did not get the party ticket, and NSUI’s nominee for vice-president, Veer Chatrath, in particular raised questions about the organisation’s selection of candidates.
The DUSU election took place a few weeks after the Gen-Z movement against the government led by the Cockroach Janata Party. Many therefore regarded the election as a referendum by students on the central government. After ABVP’s win, however, senior BJP figures presented the result as a reflection of young people’s support for the “nation first” ideal.
The union minister Kiren Rijiju, referring to Rahul Gandhi’s “Chhatron Ki Goonj” campaign, said students had broken the “murmur of lies”. In his contention the DUSU election was a “referendum” in which the voice of young people had been expressed. The union home minister, Amit Shah, said students from every part of the country come to study at Delhi University, so the verdict of this election reflects the attitude of young people across India.
In his account, ABVP’s win is a message to those forces that want to use the strength of young people for an “anti-national agenda”. Shah also said ABVP’s workers would take new strength from the victory and carry forward the work of serving students’ interests and building the country, following the ideals of Swami Vivekananda.
The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, also described ABVP’s win as a symbol of young people’s unshaken faith in the “nation first” principle. The BJP’s national president, Nitin Nabin, said the result reflects young people’s continuing confidence in positive and constructive student politics in the spirit of “nation first”, and their firm resolve to contribute to the goal of a “developed India”.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report