‘They make tall claims but vanish after polls’: DU N-E students

With an eye on the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) polls, the students’ groups are leaving no stone unturned to woo students. 

In an attempt to gain the support of the students from North-Eastern India, who forms a large vote bank, the students’ groups have started to raise their concerns. However, the North-Eastern students are not buying their claims.

The Right-wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) claims that they have always championed the cause of the DU’s North-Eastern community. “ABVP has been concerned about the North-East students whether it is before or after elections. ABVP had established the North-East cell and N-E society. We also organise football tournaments and cultural fests. Students can contact us whenever they face problems, we are available for them 24X7,” said Satender Awana, outgoing DUSU president and a member of ABVP.  

Other major contestants like the Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and the Left-leaning All India Students’ Association (AISA) are also going to make a major plank of the students from North-Eastern States. “AISA was at the forefront of the protest after the death of Nido Tania and demanded stringent laws against racial profiling in the Capital. Even for this coming election, we will raise the concerns of N-E students,” said Aman Nawaz, AISA secretary at DU.  

“They come before elections and make tall claims. ‘We would do this, that for you’.  But after elections they vanish. It is the same old story,” said Romeo, a second-year student at DU.  Many students have not even heard of the North-East cell and North-East society of DUSU. “I have not heard of any cell of DUSU and the work they do,” said a second-year student from Deshbandhu College.

Meanwhile, ABVP on Monday announced its candidate selection committee for the elections. The committee will select the four final candidates of ABVP. NSUI, on the other hand, organised a cultural fest for the students at the Talkatora Stadium.