DUSU polls: NSUI forced to change face

NEWDELHI: The upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union polls witnessed an unprecedented development on Wednesday with the election committee disqualifying NSUI’s candidate from contesting for the post of president in a post-withdrawal scrutiny.

 

NSUI’s Rocky Tuseed was disqualified on technical grounds as his admission to the department of Buddhist studies for masters’ programme was not found in order. The students’ group by late evening convinced an independent candidate, Alka of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (evening), to contest on their behalf. Polling is scheduled for September 12.

 

The election committee issued the final list of candidates on Wednesday evening. In all, 20 candidates are in fray for the four central panel posts, which includes six for the post of president.

 

While ABVP has fielded Rajat Choudhary, AISA is banking on Parul Chauhan to win the coveted post. The SFI-AIDSO combine has fielded Rafat Alam, lone Muslim candidate in fray this year. INSO’s candidate is Kunal Singh. The sixth candidate for the post of president is Vijay Vardhan from Faculty of Law.

 

There are seven women candidate contesting the elections, including two for the post of president. This time it’s an all-women contest for the post of secretary.

 

Meanwhile, taking the order of National Green Tribunal (NGT) seriously regarding conduct of paperless polls, DU sources said that a number of candidates in the final list are under the scanner and could end up getting disqualified as posters were seen yet again in different pockets of the campus on Wednesday.

Sources added that though the Delhi University election committee has issued the final list of candidates, the authorities are looking at fresh violations after the tribunal’s order.

 

The last time DU disqualified candidates for violation of model code of conduct was in 2009. “Two candidates from NSUI and three from ABVP had been disqualified for exceeding the prescribed limit of expenditure and use of vehicles in campaigning,” said an official. The candidates had moved Delhi high court, but their petition was dismissed.

Bureau Report